The Next Steps
by stephfan6511
Summary: Ranger and Stephanie move forward after Hawaii. With obstacles along the way, they realize HEA may not be as easy as they thought. Ok, not the best description, but follow along and I promise there will be a HEA at the end. Rating is just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Not mine! All the characters you recognize belong to JE, I'm just playing.**

**Warnings: Up to book 18. **

**Author's Note: This is a continuation of my first attempt at Fan Fiction: Don't Fix It. It is really short, so I do recommend reading it first to know where I'm starting here. This is only second attempt, so please read and review. I don't have a Beta so all mistakes are mine. Any and all constructive input would be appreciated. Thanks!**

Wow! I never thought three words could change my life more than the three words that Ranger said to me did. Ever since the words, "Don't fix it" came out of his mouth my life has been a rollercoaster ride. I can tell you, it is a good thing I like roller coasters.

My name is Stephanie Plum. I'm a 31-year-old bounty hunter from Trenton, New Jersey and I am in love with Ranger. Ranger has many names. Formally he is Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Sometimes I call him Carlos, but usually that is only in the privacy of our apartment. Yes, I said our apartment, but we will get to that. But out in public and in the office, he is Ranger. And I love every single bit of him.

About six months ago Ranger and I had a serious talk on the beach in Hawaii and came to a huge decision, we were finally going to let ourselves love each other. We both had fought and fought the love we had for each other and decided it wasn't worth fighting it anymore.

And once Joe arrived and we had a serious talk that officially ended what was a terminal yo-yo relationship things between Ranger and I began to progress quickly. Joe Morelli, my long-time sweetheart and I had suffered through years of loving and hating each other. He loved me a little too much when I was 6 and he was 8, in fact the more I contemplate the beginning of our relationship the more I realize how it never should have lasted as long as it did.

And the history of him taking advantage of me didn't end in his father's garage at 6 years old. Oh no, it escalated on the floor behind the éclairs case of the Tasty Pastry when I was 16. Thankfully nothing more than years of embarrassment came from that night. Joe once told me he almost wished I had gotten pregnant that night because it meant we would have gotten married. All I can say to that is thank heaven for small favors.

I was no more ready for a baby at 16 than I am now at 31, but it looks like that is what may be happening. Sshh! Don't tell Ranger!

Yep, he doesn't know yet. I have gotten so far ahead of myself, I'm sure you're lost. Let me go back to Hawaii. After our conversation when Ranger asked me not to fix it with Morelli we really went against the norm and talked about other things too. I know, Ranger talking, it still baffles me too.

The biggest baffling moment though was when I realized we had been actually having an adult conversation without yelling and arm flapping. That was when I realized this thing we were starting might actually work.

I don't think I'll ever forget our conversation.

"Babe, you really handled things with Morelli great. It could have gone so much worse, but you kept your cool and didn't let him bully you into taking him back. Proud of you."

"Thanks Ranger. I had sort of already decided that there was no way I was going to go back to him before you told me you didn't want me to fix it with him this time. You just helped give me the strength to stick to my decision."

There was the fastest flash of shock that passed across Ranger's face. If I had blinked I'm sure I would have missed it.

"What do you mean, Babe? Why weren't you going to go back to him?"

"Well, after being here with you and being so happy I knew that even if I couldn't have you, I didn't want him. Don't get me wrong, Ranger, a part of me is always going to love Morelli. Its just that I've finally realized that I need to focus on my goals if I want to be happy in life."

"Focus on your goals, Babe?" Ranger asked me with a smirk on his face. I was sure he recognized his own words coming back to him from our time hunting Scrog.

"Yes, Ranger. Believe it or not I do have goals." I'm sure it came out a little more snarky that I wanted it to, but lets face it, I haven't had a Tastycake in more than a week and it is starting to get to me.

"Ranger, I really enjoy my job. Well, ok, I like parts of my job. I love the thrill of finding my skip and bringing them in. I love working distractions and being able to help you out with searches. Let's face it, my natural born ability to be nosey really can be good for something more than getting me in trouble…well, sometimes. I have just gotten so tired of constantly defending my abilities to Joe and my mother too. I know that I'm not the best out there in my field, but I hold my own pretty well. At least most of the time."

Ranger's eyes softened ever so slightly as he said, "Babe, you always get your man. Sometimes it involves a little more muck than necessary. But your spidey sense rivals mine and I trust it more than most of my men's gut instincts. You have a natural ability Babe and if you would just let me help you a little more you would be unstoppable."

Uh oh…Ranger's idea of helping me usually involves waking up at an hour that should be deemed illegal and running until my lungs are ready to burst out of my chest.

"Ok, Ranger, what kind of help are you talking about here?" I'm sure I grimaced as I asked him based on the almost smile that graced his lips.

"Babe."

Huh? "Usually I can decipher your Babe, Ranger, but it is either a lack of processed sugar or the fact that the sun is hitting your chest at just the right angle that you look like you are literally glowing, but I'm kind of lost here."

"Babe, I'm not unrealistic. I know you, and I know what you like and what you don't like."

Damn Skippy!

At that Ranger threw his head back and laughed out loud. "Crap! Out loud?"

"Yeah Babe. But I'm glad to know that you agree that I know what you like," he said as he flashed me his wolf grin.

As my face warmed up from the blush that was rising from my chest Ranger started back in. "Before you get carried away and force me to throw you over my shoulder and drag you back to bed, let's talk about this, ok?"

"Ok." Eloquent, I know.

"Babe, if you would just let me and the guys show you a few basics. A little self defense, how to pick a lock, work with you and your gun a bit, it really would help."

"What about running?"

"Running some wouldn't hurt, Babe. I'm not unrealistic enough to think that you should be running 10 miles every day, but I think if we started small and you got into a routine that you really would enjoy it once you got used to it, babe."

"Ok…if I let you work and the guys work with me, what do I get out of the deal?"

That wolf grin spread across Ranger's face again as he asked, "what did you have in mind, Babe?"

"What if I said I wanted to work for RangeMan on more of a permanent basis?"

What happened after that is still a little blurry. I vaguely remember Ranger crushing his lips onto mine as he picked me up and carried me back into our room. I'm not even sure if he closed the sliding door at the time, but when I woke up hours later, the breeze was still coming through the curtains.

"So, was that a yes about me working more at RangeMan?"

That earned me his full 200-watt smile as he said, "Babe, I have wanted you to work for me full time since your part-time stint during the whole Con situation. Having you around the office not only makes me happier but it really makes the guys happier. Plus, like I said before, your instincts are second to none and if I had you around all the time you could really help me take RangeMan places babe."

"What do you mean 'take RangeMan places', Ranger?"

"I have a really hard time securing certain accounts, unless we were referred to them. There are a few private estates that I would love to have the work for, but the women of the house tend to get a little nervous when dealing with the guys regarding where they would like the cameras placed. Same goes with some of the high-end jewelry stores that I would like to work with. I know we could provide better service for them than our competitors are but my men make the owners nervous. The guys can be a little intimidating, Babe, even though you have never seemed to see them that way."

"I can see your point, Ranger. If I hadn't met you first to know that you weren't going to work with someone you couldn't trust, then I might have had a different feel for the guys at first too. The truth is they are just a bunch of teddy bears." Ranger gave the full on laugh again that sends tingles up my spine. "Don't tell them I said that! So, you want me to what, exactly? How do you think I could help you secure the accounts?"

"Are you kidding Babe? You have the people skills of no one I've ever met. Have you ever wondered why you are so great at distractions? Besides the obvious… being your smoking hot body, you have a natural ability to have people eating out of your hands." And then Ranger took my hand and placed a warm kiss to the center of my palm.

Before I let my hot flash cloud my brain and stop the conversation again, I had to get him to clarify so I had all the facts to ponder over. "So you would want me working with clients? Aren't you afraid I would screw it up even worse for you, Ranger? I was just hoping to run searches for you and have a partner other than Lula so I could go after a few bigger dollar skips. I'm actually hoping to get into a more secure apartment, but I just can't do that with the income I bring in right now."

"I definitely don't think you would screw anything up. If anything, I'm worried I won't have the staff to keep up with all the installations and monitoring with all the accounts you could generate for us. Tank and I have been talking about the best way to approach you about full time for quite a while now, but I didn't want to make the decision for you. And I didn't want to cause any ripples between you and Morelli."

"Well, we don't have to worry about Morelli and ripples anymore, that's for sure."

"Babe."

"I think I would like that Ranger. Would I get a partner? I don't want to leave Lula out and I would still work with her on small dollar skips, but I also know that she has been trying to save up some money to get herself into a better apartment as well, so I would ideally like to be able to hand over those low-dollar skips to her and be more of her assistant on those than having her be mine. A full-time income from RangeMan would make that easier for me to do."

"Another reason why I love you, Babe, always thinking about others first. Yes, you would get a partner. Most of our guys are up for a partner rotation anyway, so when we get back we can throw your name into the rotation."

"I'd really like that Ranger!"

"But as for the new apartment Babe, can you promise me one thing?"

"I can try."

"As much as I would love for you to just live with me on seven, I know how important it is for you to have your own space. So while we are building this relationship and you are maintaining your own space, can you at least let me help pick out your new spot? I promise not to out-right veto a location, but I would like the comfort of knowing the place you are moving into is safe. Because my nieces and nephews could break into your current apartment blindfolded."

I was temporarily struck dumb at the thought of living with Ranger on seven. He would love for me to live with him on seven?

"Yeah, Babe. I would love for you to live with me on seven."

Damn, ESP! I tossed his words around in my head some more. He wasn't demanding that I let him choose where I live. He wasn't pushing me to live with him even though he apparently wasn't opposed to the idea either. He wasn't trying to take away any of my choices, he just wanted to be allowed to have input. I wasn't quite sure how to respond. So I simply said, "ok."

I was rewarded with a 200-watt smile as Ranger brought his body over mine and planted a toe-curling kiss on me. "Thanks, Babe."

I was really beginning to enjoy this conversation. We spent the rest of the evening eating dinner, walking along the beach hand-in-hand and enjoying the sounds of the waves hitting the shore as we cuddled together on one of the lounge chairs outside our hotel room. We didn't really discuss anymore RangeMan details that night other than Ranger showing me time and time again how much he was enjoying being my partner.

**TBC…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Not mine! All the characters you recognize belong to JE, I'm just playing.**

**Warnings: Up to book 18. **

**Author's Note: This is a continuation of my first attempt at Fan Fiction: Don't Fix It. It is really short, so I do recommend reading it first to know where I'm starting here. This is only second attempt, so please read and review. Many many thanks to Cristi0819 for being my beta. I'm already learning a lot from you. Thanks!**

_Previously…_

_I was really beginning to enjoy this conversation. We spent the rest of the evening eating dinner, walking along the beach hand-in-hand and enjoying the sounds of the waves hitting the shore as we cuddled together on one of the lounge chairs outside our hotel room. We didn't really discuss anymore RangeMan details that night other than Ranger showing me time and time again how much he was enjoying being my partner. _

Ch. 2

Our flight home from Hawaii was much more enjoyable than my flight to Hawaii. First and foremost, I wasn't flying alone. I'm a nervous flyer, so having Ranger's hand to hold and constantly being rewarded by Ranger's kisses really helped to pass the time. Secondly, Ranger had upgraded my seat to first class, so I wasn't crammed into a coach seat between a snorer and the window with no escape route. And while I heard kids crying on the flight, I didn't give them much thought due to Ranger helping to keep my mind focused entirely on him.

When we arrived back in Trenton, Ranger spent the night in my apartment with me. He said he wasn't ready to give up holding me as he fell asleep yet. And truth be told, I wasn't ready to give it up yet either. Of course, I wasn't ready to give up the extra curricular activities that seemed to happen throughout the night either.

I awoke at 5 a.m. the next morning with Ranger as well. I'm not sure who was more surprised, Ranger or me.

"Babe, you don't have to get up. But I have to get going. I haven't had a good work out in weeks and Tank is expecting me for the morning meeting at 7."

I tried to pout telling him I thought I had given him a good work out in the last couple of weeks and even though I was rewarded with his wolf grin, I was still left locking the door behind Ranger after a toe-curling kiss that had me wishing more than anything I could convince him to skip his morning meeting.

With an abnormal amount of energy for 5:30 in the morning, I decided to rid my apartment of the dust it had accumulated the last two weeks while I was in Hawaii. I had only planned on being there for one week, but after Ranger arrived and we decided to give a relationship a try, we spent another week celebrating. We weren't able to capture The Rug, which was the original reason I had called him to Hawaii in the first place. He managed to slip away on us while I was ending things with Joe.

After giving everything in my apartment a quick wipe-down I hopped in the shower to shampoo, shave and exfoliate so I could go ahead and get a start on my day. I wouldn't be starting at RangeMan yet, as Ranger was going to talk to the guys about it at the morning meeting. Even though he assured me that there would be no objections, he told me he wanted me to wait until Monday to start, as that was when the new partners would take effect. It was a Thursday, so I had a couple of days to talk with Lula about the changes I was making and work out how we were going to handle things from now on.

Once I was finished getting ready for the day and with a third coat of mascara for courage I decided I was going to face my mother first. My answering machine was blinking furiously and I hadn't turned my cellphone on since Joe left Hawaii so I can only imagine what I was in for. But I was happy with the steps I was taking to finally be happy in my life and I was going to let her know it.

Plus, I had no food in my apartment and Connie and Lula wouldn't be at the office for a few more hours, so I figured I might as well get a good breakfast with my lecture. I pulled up in front of my parents' house just before 8 and my Grandma was standing on the front porch waiting to greet me.

"Welcome home, baby granddaughter. Where is that hunk with the package? I was hoping you would be bringing him with you this morning."

"Hi, Grandma. Ranger had meetings this morning. Plus, I figured it would be a good idea to face mom solo first."

"Yeah, she is ironing the neighbor's curtains because everything we own has been ironed twice already. Probably a good idea to leave the hunk at work. Wouldn't want to scare him off already. Your mother is a little scary these days."

I was determined not to hang my head as I walked in to face my mother, but I swear I could already here the 'why me' the second I entered the front door. I was determined to stay focused and greeted my mother as warmly as possible.

"Hi Mom! How's it going?" How's it going? What the heck is the matter with me? I mentally rolled my eyes and braced myself.

"How's it going? Stephanie, how's it going? You come home after two weeks in Hawaii doing God knows what (insert crossing herself here) with that thug and all you can say when you get home is 'how's it going?' I'll tell you how it's going. I have spent the better part of a week avoiding everyone I know thanks to Angie Morelli spreading what my daughter has been up to all around town. Why me? I beg you to tell me. Cynthia Bernadelli's daughter doesn't go to an island to sleep with strange men. Carla Castanolli's daughter doesn't give up her only chance at marriage and a family just for a roll in the sack with someone who will no doubt end up in jail."

"Mom! That's enough!" My mother instantly turned into a fish and my Grandma got a mischievous smile on her face as I realized those words in that tone just came out of my mouth. I have never yelled at my mother before like that, but I couldn't let her talk about Ranger that way. I also couldn't seem to control my tongue because the yelling just kept coming.

"Ranger is a terrific man. I have no idea where you got the impression that he is a thug, but you couldn't be more wrong about him. He is a successful businessman. He has served our country and in some ways still does. He might have made mistakes in his past but who hasn't? Even you aren't perfect Mom. And Joseph Morelli is far from perfect. And even if Joe was my last chance at marriage and a family, there is no way I can make myself feel sorry about giving him up. Yes, Joe is a great man, but he is not the man I want to spend the rest of my life with, Ranger is."

No sooner did the words leave my mouth than I heard the "Hot Damn!" shouted from my grandma and the iron hitting the ironing board moments before my mother hit the floor. I'm not sure if it was from the shock of me yelling at her or from me saying I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Ranger, but she hit the floor regardless. I quickly secured the iron to avoid ruining the curtains and Grandma took to smacking Mom on the face to wake her up. She seemed to be smacking her awfully hard, but after what she was insinuating about Ranger I just couldn't bring myself to stop grandma.

Mom came to and slowly and got off the floor asking what happened.

"I'll tell you what happened. My baby granddaughter here finally stood up to your yelling and picked the guy she wanted for a change. And I'm happier than hell about it. It's about time she did what she wanted. Who cares what Angie Morelli has been spouting? And who cares what everyone else's daughter is doing? I'm proud of Stephanie no matter what."

Having Grandma stand up for me brought tears to my eyes and even more shock to my mom's face. I have never heard Grandma talk to my mom that way, but it had also been so long since anyone besides Ranger had alluded to being proud of me that I couldn't help the happy tears that were threatening to fall and the smile that was on my face.

"We don't know anything about this Ranger character, mother. And from what Joseph says he is a really sketchy man. He drives around in stolen vehicles, carries more weapons than the men on the police force and he works with gang bangers and giant muscle men that are just as shady as he is."

At this point I think the steam coming from my ears could have done a better job of getting the wrinkles out of the neighbor's curtains than my mother's iron and it was taking every last bit of my self control to not take my stun gun out of my purse and use it on my mother.

Grandma gasped, "Helen!" just as I turned to Mom to try to make her understand.

"Mom," I ground out through teeth clenched so tight I could have sworn I had dust on my t-shirt from them. "I would really like for you to hear me, just once. Ranger and his men are more honorable than any men I know besides Daddy. They are hard working, honest, loyal, strong, kind-hearted, wonderful people who have saved my life more times than I can count. I know that Ranger is not Joe's favorite person but I am equally sure that has more to do with the fact that Ranger is in love with me and less to do with how he conducts his business. I can assure you that Ranger wouldn't be successful nor would he work with the companies he works with if he weren't an honest businessman. Until you can look me in the eye and tell me you are sorry for the things you have said about Ranger and happily accept the fact that we are going to be together for a very, very long time then I won't be back in this house."

I turned to my Grandma and told her to call me anytime she needed to go somewhere and that I would find other ways to see her. I asked her to have my Dad call me when it was convenient and I grabbed my purse and walked away.

**TBC…**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Not mine! All the characters you recognize belong to JE, I'm just playing.**

**Warnings: Up to book 18. **

_Previously: _

_I turned to my Grandma and told her to call me anytime she needed to go somewhere and that I would find other ways to see her. I asked her to have my Dad call me when it was convenient and I grabbed my purse and walked away._

Ch. 3

Once I was sitting in my car in took me a good ten minutes to get my breathing under control and to fight back the tears threatening to fall. In all honesty, I don't know what I expected. My mom has never openly accepted me, but up until now I have been mostly ok with that. But hearing her speak so poorly about Ranger and his men was definitely the last straw. I wasn't going to allow that, not in front of me. So, I did it. I finally walked away. I was finally the one to have the last word and set for the ultimatum. And no threat of losing dessert would have changed my mind. Until my mom comes to her senses and apologizes to me and openly accepts my relationship with Ranger, I'm done.

My relationship with Ranger! I still can't get over that. Relationship and Ranger both in the same sentence and in the positive form. Yay! As I mentally did my happy dance I motored off to the Bonds office where I was certain the reaction would be quite different than the one I received from my mother.

"Hey White Girl! 'Bout time you got your skinny ass back here. These skips be crazier than usual," Lula said by way of greeting. "Let's go get some donuts and catch us some skips."

At that point I remembered that I hadn't eaten any breakfast since I never got that far at my mom's house. My stomach agreed with Lula in the form of a loud rumble.

"What do you mean the skips are crazier than normal, Lula?"

"Well, this here Benny Wandowski got arrested for peeing on his wife at the park. He claimed her dress was on fire and there was nothing to put it out so he peed on her. Problem was there was no singe marks on her dress."

"Yuck! Have you found him yet?"

"Yeah, I knocked on his door, but he came out locked and loaded, so I took off!"

"He came at you with a gun?"

"No…the jerk was gonna piss on me. And I was wearing these suede pumps. I don't want no one peeing on me period, but I sure as shit wasn't gonna let him ruin my new shoes."

I tried desperately to hold back a laugh. Truth is, I wouldn't want anyone peeing on me at all either, but what really got me was the look on Lula's face when she was talking about it. She had her lip curled up and her nose scrunched up and it was just funny. But I know better than to laugh at Lula so I sucked it up and held it in.

"Ok, Lula, who else do we have?" I had the distinct feeling it was just going to get worse from there.

"Well, we have Connie Mankowistz. She took a metal baseball bat to her husband and a 'ho he was in her bed with. Did more damage to the husband than the 'ho. Claimed the 'ho just got in her way, she really only wanted to beat her husband."

"I have a hard time blaming her. I can't say I wouldn't have taken a bat to Dickie and Joyce if I'd had one handy at the time."

"Yeah, well the crazy biotch told me I looked like a 'ho her husband would be with and she tried to take her bat to me too. I tried to 'xplain I wasn't no 'ho no more but she wasn't hearing me. I tell ya, she had a crazy look in her eyes!"

"Ok, anybody else?"

"These two just came in," Connie chimed in. "Just Mooner and Dougie. Seems they both missed this time, so it shouldn't be too hard for you. You can probably get them both at the same time."

"Let's hit the Tasty Pastry and get them first. I haven't seen I Love Lucy in a while," Lula said. "Plus I ain't in no hurry to get pissed on or have a bat swung at me today."

Might as well start with the easy one, I thought so I grabbed the files, signed my apprehension forms and got ready to leave. I couldn't believe they hadn't brought up anything about me, Joe and Ranger yet so once everything was signed I just looked at them and waited to see if they were going to mention it.

"Whatcha waitin' for white girl? I'm starved, lets move!"

"You guys aren't even at all curious about Hawaii? Where are my friends and what have you two imposters done with them?" I asked, still shocked that they hadn't even mentioned it.

"Oh Honey, we heard all about how Joe dumped you and that Ranger has been in the wind probably avoiding Trenton thinking you came back from a wonderful beach vacation that you didn't even want him to go with you on," Connie said with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Yeah, White Girl, Officer Hottie's been spreading it all around town how he came to Hawaii just to dump you after he and Terri decided they were leaving Trenton together. Said he owed it to you to tell you in person bein' as you have history and all," Lula added.

Once I got over the need to impersonate a fish I was finally able to speak. "What?" I know it wasn't much, but it was all I could come up with at the time.

"Yeah, sweetie, Joe and Terri are leaving Trenton. Joe got offered a job in Philly. He figured it was close enough to his family but far enough that he wouldn't have to see you every day. He's been saying he cares about you too much to rub his relationship with Terri in your face. Apparently they are talking about marriage," Connie said.

"Wow!" Again, I think I was channeling my inner Ranger and his knack for one-word responses. I finally gained composure enough to say, "That isn't exactly what happened, but I'm glad Joe came out smelling like the rose he thinks he is."

Connie and Lula looked at each other, then looked and me and asked in unison, "What did happen?"

I took a deep breath and decided to give them as much of a condensed version as possible. I knew that my relationship with Ranger would most likely break land speed records across the Burg once my mother gained her composure, so I knew I had to at least divulge that much.

"Joe did come to Hawaii and we did break up. We did discuss Terri, but him leaving Trenton and the subject of them and marriage never came up. I would like to think that our break up was mutual, but however it is portrayed, I'm just glad to be out of it. I was tired of feeling like a yo-yo and I knew that deep down there was no way I could ever marry him."

Lula and Connie were nodding their heads and looking at me to continue hoping there was more for me to say. "And as for Ranger being in the wind, he wasn't exactly in the wind, unless you call being with me in Hawaii being in the wind."

"What! White Girl you had that fine man locked away in your room in Hawaii and you just now tellin' us?"

"Come on, Steph, what gives? That is something you should have led with not buried in the story!" Connie gasped out.

"I just assumed you would have known. I never anticipated Joe to twist the story quite so much, but I should have known his pride wasn't going to allow him to tell the whole truth. If he and Terri really are leaving Trenton I wish them the best. I will miss him, he is a good friend, but I want him to be as happy as I am."

"You just happy cause you finally got naked with Batman or is there more to the story that you still ain't tellin' us?" Lula asked with her hands on her hips and a sparkle to her eye. She looked hopeful. And while I couldn't give her all the details, I did open up enough to say, "Ranger and I are going to explore having a relationship. We are going to take it a day at a time and see how things work out, but I'm really happy with that. I'm in no rush to get married and certainly not to have kids. But being able to call Ranger mine and to finally be his, well, it just makes me happy. I'm not sure how else to word it."

"Fuckin' A! White Girl this calls for donuts and some Cluck-in-a-Bucket. Let's get out of here before I waste away and we miss I Love Lucy!"

"You can fill me in on the rest of the details later," Connie said. "And bring me back some chicken after you take in Mooner and Dougie."

"We'll do our best," I said and we were out the door.

Once we were loaded into my older than dirt, new to me Chevy Tahoe, Lula looked at me and asked, "Ok, white girl, it's just us now so give me all the details. What's Batman like in bed? Did you skinny dip with him while you were in Hawaii? Did he get there before Joe did? Was there a big fight? Come on, quit holding out on me!"

After Lula finally paused to take a breath, I decided I could afford to give her a few more details, but nothing specific of course. "No skinny dipping, yes he was there before Joe, no one fought. It was all surprisingly civil."

"You left out what he is like in bed," Lula said.

I just glanced at her and then back out the windshield as I pulled up to the Tasty Pastry. Saved by the donuts. "Ok, white girl, you wait here and I'll run in on account of you don't usually get enough and you boring and only pick those Boston Creams. I know they good and all, but I need some variety."

Lula had just closed the door and headed inside when my phone began ringing out with the Batman theme song.

"Yo!"

"Babe, that's my line."

"Yeah, I know, but I thought I'd give you a familiar greeting," I said grinning.

"I'd like a familiar greeting, but I had something else in mind," Ranger said through a chuckle that warmed me in all the right places.

As I grinned I answered, "What kind of familiar greeting did you have in mind?"

"Meet me on seven for dinner tonight and I can show you the kind of greeting I was hoping for."

"Sure, what time?"

"Well, I'm in between meetings now and I have meetings most of the afternoon, so how about 6:30? I'll have Ella prepare some of your favorites and drop them off about 7?"

"Sounds perfect Batman. But is 30 minutes enough time for you to show me this greeting?" I asked with a grin on my face. I knew I was baiting the tiger but I couldn't help it.

"Babe, all night wouldn't be long enough for me to greet you properly enough, but I'll make sure the food is something that will hold if necessary. Just in case we carried away greeting each other."

"Sounds great Batman, I'll see you at 6:30."

"Babe" was all I heard before the line went dead. We are going to have to discuss phone manners.

Not long after Ranger and I disconnected, Lula was back with two bags of donuts. We decided to wait to get the chicken so we could take some back to Connie after getting Mooner and Dougie rebonded.

Just as we anticipated, Mooner and Dougie were watching the I Love Lucy marathon and after only two hours of watching together they went peacefully with us to the station. I was really glad that I avoided Morelli at the station. Even though things ended on a decent note, and I was curious about him moving with Terri, I just didn't want to have to face him today. Especially since I couldn't get "greeting" Ranger off my mind and I'm sure it was showing all over my face.

True to his word that night, Ranger spent quite a long time showing me the different ways to greet him and none of them involved the word "Yo". Although, some other words were definitely screamed to each other. That was the first night I called him Carlos. He definitely approved of that greeting and had me greeting him with it early into the next morning.

**TBC…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Not mine! All characters you recognize belong to JE. I'm just playing. **

**Warnings: Possible spoilers book 1-18**

**Author's Note: Ok guys…this is my first attempt at Smut! Please let me know how I did. I was really nervous writing this and I hope I did the scene justice. Many thanks to Cristi0819 for being my Beta. You are making my first attempts at writing fan fiction go much smoother. It is greatly appreciated!**

_Previously:_

_True to his word that night, Ranger spent quite a long time showing me the different ways to greet him and none of them involved the word "Yo". Although, some other words were definitely screamed to each other. That was the first night I called him Carlos. He definitely approved of that greeting and had me greeting him with it early into the next morning._

Ch.4

When I awoke the next morning it took me a few moments to get my bearings. I hadn't slept in Ranger's apartment since that night when we were finally together again after such a long time. Giving in to my lust that night for the first time since the DeChooch deal was amazing. I also believe it confirmed my feelings for him. Despite my great efforts to remain in denial land, Ranger pulled me out and I couldn't be happier.

As I slowly came back to consciousness all my senses were tingling. I could feel the warmth and comfort from Ranger's amazing bed and the fantastic sheets I was still tangled in. Either Ranger dissipated into smoke when he got out of the bed this morning, or I had tossed and turned since he got up because the sheets were wound so tightly around me I was starting to feel claustrophobic.

A variety of smells were warming my nose from coffee, something that smelled entirely too good to be food in Ranger's kitchen and a stronger than usual Bulgari smell. As I slowly opened my eyes, I was greeted by the warm chocolate brown eyes of the man I loved. His hair was still wet from his shower and even though it was still short, I couldn't resist running my fingers through it. I still haven't decided if I prefer his hair long or short, but I know I love gripping it tightly in the throws of passion.

"Morning, Babe," Ranger greeted me as he slowly kissed down my face. He started at my forehead, kissed both of my eyelids, my cheeks, the tip of my nose and then planted an ever so soft kiss on my lips.

"Good morning, Ranger," I answered as I tilted my head to the side to allow him greater access for the kisses that were now moving down my throat to my collarbone.

"Mmmmm… that feels really nice," I purred.

Ranger slowly started to peel back the sheets that I was wrapped up in revealing my completely naked body.

As his wolf grin spread across his face he said, "It's like opening up a present."

I giggled and told him, "And it isn't even your birthday or Christmas."

Ranger proceeded to kiss practically every inch of skin on my body. It wasn't rushed or frenzied. It wasn't raw and hungry like it had been the night before. It was romantic and gentle and full of love. He wasn't in any hurry and even though Ranger had me breathless, he had only skimmed over the sweet spots that he knows send me into a tailspin.

Slowly, he made his way back up my body to where he started and after placing tender kisses on my neck and jaw and below my ear as he looked at me with passion filled eyes. He paused to stare for just a moment and something in his eyes changed. They went from passion filled to slightly softer and a look of…love shown so brightly through them.

"I love you, Babe," Ranger said on an exhaled breath. We had said we loved each other when we first truly professed it to each other in Hawaii. I know he loves me, more so for the way he shows me. Neither Ranger nor I have ever been great about sharing our emotions verbally. I believe over the last few weeks we have perfected showing our love to each other, but we aren't the couple who says it to each other a hundred times a day. And thank God for that, because I think it loses a little bit of its meaning when you have to say it all the time over and over. And right now, I could really he tell he meant it.

"I love you too, Ranger," I answered as I felt tears beginning to sting the back of my eyes. He had been gently rubbing his hands up and down my sides as he stared into my eyes. And while he was lying mostly on top of me he wasn't rushing into anything. It was like he was trying to get me to absorb his love through his touches as well as his words.

I smiled at him and he returned it with his full 200-watt smile that tends to ruin my panties, when I'm wearing some. Slowly, Ranger began to peel off his own shirt and allowed me to help him with his pants. He had entered the room barefoot, which I was just now noticing and was thankful that he didn't have to pull too far away from me to remove shoes and socks.

As Ranger's mouth moved back to mine to claim it once again, his kisses remained gentle. There was a hunger building behind the kisses but he certainly wasn't in a rush. He slowly moved his hands all over my body. Gently caressing my breasts bringing my nipples to a painfully taut state.

As his hands moved lower, so did his mouth. His full, soft lips left mine sliding ever so slowly down my throat, across my collarbone, briefly touching my shoulder and resting on my left breast, as his right hand gently began focusing on my hot center.

He slowly spread open my wet lips and gently inserted two fingers into my core. I couldn't help but arch into him. I quietly breathed out, "Carlos." Calling him Carlos was so new, but it felt so right. This was Carlos to me. He was gentle and caring. He was everything Ranger had always been to me only more.

"God Babe, you are so beautiful," Ranger whispered to me as he moved his fingers in and out of me at an agonizingly slow pace. He moved his mouth from my left breast to my right to pay it equal attention and the burning in my belly went from hot to blazing inferno. His pace with his hands increased and just when I thought I couldn't take it any longer, he quickly moved down my body and gently bit down on my clit while inserting a third finger, sending me into outer space.

He continued to tenderly stroke my clit with his tongue and slowly moved his fingers in and out as I came down from my orgasm and when my breathing finally returned to somewhat normal, he removed his fingers and brought his body back up mine. I whimpered slightly from the loss of his warmth, but it was quieted as his mouth reclaimed mine and his length filled me.

Ranger kept our love making at a slow and steady pace, pulling almost completely out of me and then gently pushing all the way back in until I swear I could feel him touching my cervix. He was whispering words to me in Spanish and while I couldn't understand many of them, the way they sounded coming out of his mouth assured me they were beautiful words. The words I did understand, 'Te amo', only served to fill my heart even more than they did in English and as we reached our climax together I knew that this was the man that would own my heart for the rest of my life.

We laid there in bed together after our love making, Ranger gently running his hand up and down my back while my hand traced small circles over his firm stomach seemingly of its own accord.

I couldn't hold back any longer and began to attempt to tell Ranger how I was feeling. "That was so…different."

"You felt it too?" Ranger asked me.

"I have always known the connection we've had and your words and actions in Hawaii showed me how much you love me, I just…I hadn't felt it quite like I do now," I attempted to explain.

"I know, Babe. I had the same feeling. It was as if I could spend the rest of my life buried inside of you. It wasn't about reaching climax, it was about the connection to you," Ranger said.

Well, feel free to be connected to me anytime Batman, I thought.

As I heard Ranger laughing out loud I knew what I thought hadn't remained in my head. "I'm gonna hold you to that Babe."

We spent who knows how much longer in bed together before I realized it was Friday and Ranger should be working. Of course, I should be too, but that is beside the point. "Not that I mind…at all…but what are you doing up here? Shouldn't you be working?"

"Initially I came up here to talk to you about how we were going to handle you coming on board full time next week. But once I saw you bundled up in my sheets looking so peaceful, I couldn't resist peeling back the sheets and claiming you as mine again."

Mine. I like the sound of that. "So, how are you going to handle me next week?"

Ranger responded with a chuckle. "That's not what I meant Ranger! I meant at work."

"Well, the guys decided it wasn't fair unless they all received an equal chance to become your partner. We decided that you would spend each day with a new guy and at the end of the week we would sit down and hash out who you felt most comfortable working with."

"How am I supposed to choose without hurting someone's feelings? I love all the guys and I would hate for it to be awkward with anyone I didn't choose," I tried to explain to Ranger.

"I thought that might be the case. The guys all agreed that under no circumstances would they take it personally if they weren't whom you chose to work with. They are all just so glad you have finally decided to come to work full-time here that they want an equal shot at spending more time with you."

I thought about that for a moment and decided, "Ok. As long as there are no hurt feelings, then I'd be happy to give them each a shot. I'm pretty sure I already know how I will work the best with based on past experience, but I'm willing to give any and all of them a shot."

"Babe?" I knew he wanted to know who I thought I would work best with, but I wasn't going to risk not giving all the guys a fair chance so I simply responded, "You have to wait just like the rest of the Merry Men."

That got me a full-blown 200-watt smile. I was glad he wasn't going to push the issue, because I knew with his power of persuasion, it wouldn't take long for me to crumble.

Two hours and an extra long shower later I pulled up in front of the Bonds office ready to chase some skips. I hadn't had a chance the day before to really discuss my decision with Lula so I knew today might be a little rocky.

Before I could even exit my Tahoe, Lula came rushing out. She yanked open the door and jumped in, nearly sitting on the bag of meatball subs from Pino's that was in the front seat.

"Sorry, but I couldn't handle one more minute of the noises comin' out of Vinnie's office," she explained. "That skank Barnyard been in there for more than an hour and I don't want to even begin to guess what they was doin'. I ain't never heard noises like that before and I used to be a 'ho!"

I grabbed my phone and dialed the office number.

"Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, Connie speaking."

"Hey, Lula gave me fair warning that I don't really want to come in there, but if you want to run out here, I have some lunch for you."

"Great, thanks! I'm thinking I can take it and go next door to read one of Mary Maggie's books while I eat. I need a break from…whatever is going on in there," Connie responded.

Once we handed off lunch to Connie, Lula and I were on our way to try to track down Benny Wandowski. We pulled up along the curb in front of his small row house on Lindell St. We couldn't tell if anyone was home at the time. There was no car in the drive way, but the garage in the back was closed, so whether or not a car was in there was left to be seen.

Lula and I were just coming back around from the side of the house after discovering a car in the garage as Benny was walking up the front sidewalk. Before we could approach him, Mrs. Wandowski stormed out the front door gun raised.

"Woah, woah, woah June. What's with the gun?" Benny asked his wife with his arms raised in the air.

"I told you to stay away from my house!" she shouted to him.

"Oh come on honey, I told you I was sorry. I was drunk, and I swear…that orange and red dress looked like fire! I didn't have any water, and I had to pee so I thought it was killing two birds with one stone. I haven't touched a drop of alcohol since. I'm so embarrassed, I'm so sorry," Benny tried to explain to his wife.

"Haven't you ever heard of stop, drop and roll? If I was on fire, don't you think I would have been doing something to put it out? I was just standing there feeding the ducks!" Mrs. Wandowski shouted.

I could tell she was getting more and more irritated, and I didn't really want to put myself in between an angry wife with a gun and the reason for her anger so I just stood there giving my best fish impression.

Moments later, a cat ran past us toward the front of the house and Lula sneezed loudly. The sudden loud noise caused Mrs. Wandowski to jump and her trigger finger to squeeze. Luckily for Benny, she missed him, unluckily for me her shot was dead on for the gas tank of my Tahoe and it instantly went up. It probably didn't help my cause that I had just filled up the tank before picking up Lula.

I looked at Lula who innocently said, "Sorry. You knew I was allergic to cats. Who'd a thought a sneeze would be the reason for your next car explosion?"

The shock from Mrs. Wandowski firing a gun toward him had caused Benny to pee on himself and pass out. As he lay prone on the sidewalk, Mrs. Wandowski was on the porch laughing at him. I guess seeing him covered in his own pee was retribution enough for her. She quickly apologized to me for my car, and then went about trying to awaken Benny.

Benny had just come to as the fire trucks and cops were arriving. I was speaking to Benny, the reason we were there in the first place when Joe Morelli's POS Crown Vic barreled up the road and screeched to a stop several feet behind my blazing Tahoe.

He quickly stalked over toward me with his ever present "ticked off" face and I could tell he was preparing himself for a knock down drag out with me. Still bitter after yesterday's conversation with the girls and finding out that Joe had been spreading lies throughout the Burg about me, I wasn't going to allow him the satisfaction of a good yell.

"What are you doing here Joe? Shouldn't you be at home with Terri packing up to move to Philly and picking out wedding apparel?" I couldn't help the sarcastic tone coming from my mouth.

Joe stutter stepped before recovering. I don't think he was expecting me to know his lies quite so quickly. He responded with, "Jesus, Cupcake. You just get back in town and you are already down another vehicle. Can you see now why I've been begging you for years to quit this crap job you have and stay home?"

"Hey, it wasn't my fault!" I yelled back to him. "And no, I still can't see it. How many times do I have to tell you that I like doing this job? I know freak accidents and crazies seem to follow me around, but as we have proven before, the crazies and explosions don't stop just because I'm not bounty hunting." As I was building up to a full-out rhino-mode rant, I felt it. That tingle that I only get when my man of mystery is near by.

I took a deep breath and calmed down. Then I looked to Joe and said, "I'm not going to continue to defend myself to you. I think I made it perfectly clear in Hawaii where I stood on this. Have a great life Joe, I hope you find happiness, I know I have." And I turned around to walk into the open arms of Ranger.

"Babe," he greeted me as he wrapped his arms around me. "Proud of you," he whispered in my ear and then pulled back, gave me a warm smile and then planted a huge kiss on my lips.

The kiss continued for what felt like could have been hours and as he pulled away leaving me breathless he turned, nodded his head ever so slightly to acknowledge Joe said, "Morelli" and then led me to his Turbo.

Just as he was opening the passenger door for me Eddie rushed over and said, "Hey Steph, I'll take Benny in and get his body receipt ready for you. If you'll come pick it up, I'll split my winnings with you. I knew there was no way what Joe was saying about Hawaii, his relationship with Terri and Ranger not wanting to be around you could be true. I think this was the biggest pot I've won yet!" And with a wink and smile Eddie ran back over to his cruiser to take Benny to the station.

I glanced over to see Tank offering a ride to Lula and with a backward glance to me Lula smiled and climbed into the SUV. Ranger helped me into the Turbo and then rushed around to the driver's side.

After he climbed in and secured his seatbelt he asked me where we were going. I told him we better head to the station so I could get my body receipt and apparently my winnings. As I looked out the window at my burning car I wondered to myself if it would be enough for a new car.

Ranger grinned at me and said, "You never disappoint Babe." I smiled at him, figuring I had said that out loud.

With a body receipt and $500 in my pocket I was back at the Bonds office to meet back up with Lula. After piling into her Firebird I knew my time was running out to discuss the changes that were coming so I took a deep breath, pulled up my big girl panties, looked at Lula and said, "We need to talk."

**TBC…**

_**Author's Note: **Ok…so I already have in mind who I'm going to have Steph end up partnering with, but I want to know what you think? Who is interested in trying to be her partner, and who would you like to see her end up with? I'm totally amazed at how many hits each chapter has received. Now I would love a little more feedback. Please review! _


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Not mine! All characters you recognize belong to JE. I'm just playing. **

**Warnings: Possible spoilers book 1-18**

**Author's Note: Thanks again to Cristi0819 for being my Beta. You're the best, Babe!**

_Previously:_

_With a body receipt and $500 in my pocket I was back at the Bonds office to meet back up with Lula. After piling into her Firebird I knew my time was running out to discuss the changes that were coming so I took a deep breath, pulled up my big girl panties, looked at Lula and said, "We need to talk."_

Ch. 5

"Dang right we need to talk," Lula huffed out. "What was up with you and Super Cop back there at the pisser's house? Shouldn't you a been givin' him the what for about tellin' all them lies about what happened between you two?"

I sighed. I couldn't help it. How was I going to explain it to Lula when I couldn't explain it to myself? I guess I should try to just be honest with her in the hope that it would clear things up for me too. "Well…" and I sighed again. "I'm just done. I don't want to have that same fight with him that I always do. Him telling me I'm not good enough to do my job and me pointlessly trying to defend myself. No matter how many times I tell him that I love this job even with all the crap it sometimes brings, he never hears me. I just don't want to keep defending myself," I finished with a big deep breath.

"Guess that makes sense," Lula surmised. "Good thing Batman gets it. Sure gonna make your life a lot easier now since the guy you with knows how good you are at this."

I was shocked. Lula had never told me I was good at this. Sure, she stuck with me so I assumed she figured it wasn't too dangerous being around me, but 'good at this' was never really a phrase she used. In fact, all she usually said was what a downer I was for not letting her use her gun more often.

"Thanks, Lula," I said. "I agree that it is a very good thing that Ranger understands me. He has never once tried to change me, even if he doesn't like what I'm doing. He definitely has the "being supportive" role down."

"Can I ask you somethin' that's always bugged me?" Lula asked.

"Sure," I answered not sure if I would be able to answer her.

"Why you think Super Cop always give you such a hard time? I mean, you claim he always been a good friend to you, but sometimes he don't act like what a friend should."

I took a deep breath. I've known Joe for such a long time that it has always been obvious to me why he acts like he does toward me. I can see what he must look like to someone who doesn't understand all he has been through, but to me I get him. I know I don't have to anymore, but he deserves me defending him just like Ranger and his men do.

So in my best attempt to get Lula to understand, I opened up. "Joe had a really complicated childhood. His Dad was a drunk and an abuser. He would stalk around and act domineering over his mother and who knows what Angie really suffered behind closed doors. I'm sure she suffered even more than Joe realizes."

I took a deep breath to calm myself. I always get so angry at his Dad whenever I think about it, and I didn't want Lula to think I was angry with her. "Joe has spent his entire adult life trying to be nothing like his father, but just like I have a hard time expressing my feelings because my family didn't when I was growing up, Joe has a hard time controlling his anger when he has it because his Dad never even seemed to try."

Braving a glance at Lula, she was nodding as if she understood so I ventured on. "I can see how hard Joe tries to control himself. Whether we are together or not, my "accidents" while on the job or not tend to push Joe right to the edge. He loves me. Probably more like a sister than I'm comfortable admitting considering our sexual history, but he does love me. And when I come close to getting hurt, it scares him. I can see the fear behind his eyes even though he tries desperately to mask it. And in all honestly, I think yelling at me is his way of controlling the rage that is brewing inside. We've talked about it before and he admitted once that his yelling was the only way he could get what he was feeling out. He wants more than anything to be able to hit something and he usually spends some time in the gun range after I have a miss-hap. He tries so hard to control his anger."

"I really am so proud that he tries so hard to control it and doesn't ever give in to it. He has never raised a hand to me, or any other woman that I've witnessed. I know it takes a lot for him to not be like his Dad."

"And as far as how he feels about me and Ranger. He doesn't get it. He sees the way I melt to Ranger and he thinks Ranger reminds him of his Dad. Angie loved Joe's Dad. And despite the way he treated her, she excused it. She let him lead her where she went. She let him control situations and Joe hated that. He said his Dad tried to make her weak so she would need him. Joe has asked me more than once why I think I need Ranger's help so much. Why I couldn't just let him help me more. And I could never explain to him that I went to Ranger not because I needed to, but because I wanted to. It would have hurt him too badly for me to tell him that. It would have been too risky for me to admit how much I loved Ranger and went to him because I wanted so badly for any excuse to be near him. I hope one day soon Joe will understand."

I stopped talking, unable to believe I just told all that to Lula. I looked at her, ready to beg for her not to mention this talk when she said, "my Momma used to let men beat on her too. Course, she was always so drugged up I don't think she felt it, but being a kid and watchin' it happen made me think it was ok. It took me a while to realize it ain't. I see Joe trying to control his anger and I always wondered if he didn't try so hard at home and that was why you was off and on with him all the time. Glad to know I don't have to continue to think of ways to kill the cop and hide the body next time I think he hurt you."

I smiled at Lula. She really was one of the best friends I've ever had. I hope she takes what is coming next as well as my explanation of Joe.

"Lula, there was something else I needed to talk to you about," I braved on to the next subject.

"You finally gonna tell me about how good Batman is in bed?" She asked with hopefulness behind her voice.

I couldn't help but laugh at loud. "No! But nice try."

"Can't blame a girl for wantin' to live vicariously. I ain't had much good lovin' since Tankie picked some damn cats over me. A good story might have done me some good," she laughed.

"I'm afraid Batman might relocate us both to third world countries and we'd both be in need of good stories if I shared too much with you. All I can say is, I'm certainly not complaining."

"But I have to get this out before I chicken out. I need to let you know, I'm going to work at RangeMan full time." I stopped and looked at Lula fearful of what I was going to see.

She sat quietly for a moment and then nodded, "Yeah, I figured that was coming soon."

"But here's the thing Lula, I already told Ranger that I was going to keep helping you on the lower bond skips. And I'm guessing since I'll have my assigned partner with me most of the time, it will be easier for both of us, and you'll be getting all the money," I quickly spit out.

"Well, not all the money, White Girl. I can't be takin' money from you all this time and not give you back some. I might not be as generous as you cause it takes a lot money to look this good and I be needing a new crib since my neighborhood be getting scarier and scarier, but I'll hook you up as much as I can."

I smiled at Lula, "I appreciate that. I'm going to be getting a new apartment too. I can't keep living in a place that a 4-year-old can break into. Maybe we can look together and find somewhere nice that would allow us to be neighbors?"

"You'd want to be my neighbor?" Lula asked with a hint of shock in her voice.

"Of course I would! Just might need a floor or two between us because girl, you snore," I said unable to hold back a chuckle at the look of shock on her face.

"Do not!" she defended.

"The last time you stayed with me I thought someone was coming through my door with a chainsaw," I joked light-heartedly.

"I was congested," she defended. I loved this banter with Lula and I loved that she seemed to be taking me going to RangeMan full time so well.

Lula looked like a light-bulb went off and she perked up saying, "Hey, if you helpin' me out that means I get to make the rules! And I say if you comin' you best be bringin' your gun with you." She looked at me with an evil-grin.

Uh oh!

Lula and I were on our way to try to track down Connie Mankowistz next. When Lula attempted to round her up before, Connie tried to take the same metal baseball bat she used on her husband to Lula claiming she looked like someone her husband would hook up with. Connie had caught her husband in the act of having an affair and he and the 'ho he was with met with the end of Connie's bat.

"You know, maybe since you still leadin' and all, you should go first," Lula said to me as we arrived at the Mankowistz house. "She wasn't too happy to see me last time."

"Ok, but maybe you should stay in the car? I don't want her to mistake you for someone looking for her husband again and then be caught between you and her baseball bat."

"That sounds like a good idea to me," Lula agreed.

I exited the car and headed for the door. I really didn't want to end what started out as a great day being beaten by a baseball bat, so I really hope Mrs. Mankowistz doesn't mistake me for someone her husband would be interested in too.

After knocking on the door, a dolled up Connie Mankowistz opened the door and greeted me in the most unexpected way, "Stephanie Plum!" "Oh my gosh, I haven't seen you in years!"

As I looked at this 33 year-old woman, I had no idea who I was seeing other than my skip. How she knew me was lost on me. I hoped I could gracefully admit I had no idea who she was.

"It's me! Connie Sandusky…well Mankowistz for now, but as soon as I drop that no good, cheating husband of mine it will be back to Sandusky," she explained.

Connie Sandusky, she had been in Joe's class in school. In high school she was vivacious. She was a cheerleader who was slim with shiny perfect hair and makeup always done to perfection. The woman standing before me at 5 foot 6 inches tall weighed easily 200 pounds. Her hair was ratted up in a knot on the top of her head and looked like it hadn't been combed through since high school. Her makeup was barely there except for the layers of mascara that looked as if she was using the same tube for the past 5 years judging by the clumps on her lashes. This was not the Connie Sandusky I knew. I guess it is true when they say once you've married you let yourself go. If Ranger and I ever marry, I hope I don't get to this stage.

Hold up! Did I jump to marriage with Ranger already? What has gotten in to me? With Connie standing in front of me waiting to see what I'll say next I should push back my thoughts of marriage and get to the point of my visit.

"Connie, oh my gosh! It _has_ been forever. I'm so sorry about what happened. Believe me, I know a thing or two about coming home to a husband with a skank," I began with in an attempt to warm her up.

"Yeah, I heard about you and Dickie. Of course, who didn't hear about you and Dickie? I heard you and Joe Morelli just called it quits. Is it true you ran of to Hawaii with some black hunk and left poor Joe at home without even telling him you were dumping him?" she inquired.

I tried to hold back my say and answer as nonchalantly as possible, "Not exactly. Listen, the reason I'm here is I represent Vincent Plum Bail Bonds and unfortunately you missed your court date. I need to take you downtown to reschedule."

I couldn't tell what she was thinking by the look on her face. She didn't seem to have her bat handy so I was taking it as a good sign so far. As she spoke up I breathed a sigh of relief, "Yeah, I was out of town visiting my Grandma in the nursing home. She wasn't doing too good and my court date was the last thing on my mind. Some big black lady came by a few days ago to try to take me in, but I had just seen Jeremy so I wasn't in the mood to deal with it."

"Jeremy? Is that your husband?" I asked. I didn't remember his first name from the file. I had only skimmed it for her picture since Lula already knew all the details.

"Yeah, that's the name of the asshole that is the reason for this mess in the first place. Let me grab my purse and we'll go."

"A word to the wise, Connie. The lady that came by a few days ago, her name is Lula. She is my partner of sorts and she is waiting in the car. She is really a nice person, but she doesn't handle being called big very well, so if you could keep those comments to yourself I would appreciate it. She is kind of…sensitive." I was doing by best to avoid a knock down drag out, bat or no bat.

"Sure thing," she agreed. "I get sensitive about my size sometimes too. I promise I'll be on my best behavior."

And she was. We got her to the cop shop without incident and headed back to the Bonds office. Connie didn't have any more files waiting for me so I decided I should head home. I was excited about what Monday would bring and ready to spend a weekend relaxing and hopefully hunting for a new apartment. I finally felt like I was beginning to leave single life behind. While Ranger and I weren't "settled down" by any means, we were committed to each other. I was finally prepared to move out of my dorm room existence and into adulthood. I've never looked so forward to a Monday in my life.

**TBC…**

_Author's Note: Ok folks, I'm just about to start writing the "try-outs" for Steph's partner. Let me know your thoughts for who she should partner with. Please review!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Not mine! All characters you recognize belong to JE. I'm just playing. **

**Warnings: Possible spoilers book 1-18**

**Author's Note: Thanks again to Cristi0819 for being my Beta. You're the best, Babe!**

_Previously:_

_And she was. We got her to the cop shop without incident and headed back to the Bonds office. Connie didn't have any more files waiting for me so I decided I should head home. I was excited about what Monday would bring and ready to spend a weekend relaxing and hopefully hunting for a new apartment. I finally felt like I was beginning to leave single life behind. While Ranger and I weren't "settled down" by any means, we were committed to each other. I was finally prepared to move out of my dorm room existence and into adulthood. I've never looked so forward to a Monday in my life._

Ch. 6

The weekend passed by in mostly a blur. I spent a good deal of Saturday looking at apartment buildings with Lula. And while my idea of what I wanted in an apartment and her idea of what made it great seemed to differ, we did walk away with one really good prospect.

The one we could agree was a 6-story apartment building located only a few blocks from RangeMan. There were currently only two units available, a one-bedroom unit on the third floor and a two-bedroom unit on the sixth floor. Lula seemed very happy with the one-bedroom unit thanks to the walk-in closet. Knowing how important it was to have room for all of her clothes and shoes, I could appreciate the closet being the selling factor for her. The bathroom was nothing spectacular, but she said the apartment felt very "homey" to her and the price wasn't outrageous.

The moment I saw the two-bedroom unit, I fell in love. It was located on the southwest corner of the building and from the master bedroom window I could see the windows of Ranger's apartment. The closet in what was amazing with an organizer built in that would be perfect for my ever-expanding shoe collection. The bathroom attached to that bedroom was a huge step up from my current bathroom, with no orange and brown tile in sight. The tub was slightly larger than standard and the shower came with a deluxe massager.

The second bedroom in the unit was smaller than the master but would be perfect for a makeshift office, combination spare guest room in case Grandma Mazur ever needs to escape from my mother again. This way neither of us would be on the couch. The kitchen wasn't huge but it opened up to the living room with an island/breakfast bar separating them, a perfect location for Rex's cage. The dining room sat adjacent to the living room and a small bath with a pedestal sink, toilet and stall shower sat between it and the second bedroom.

While the apartment was bigger than I really needed, something about it was screaming at me to get it. Not one to go against my spidey-sense, I was determined to have Ranger check it out and if it met his approval for security, I would begin the paper work to make it mine. I was able to convince the super to hold it for one week to allow Ranger and his men time to check it out.

With that task handled much quicker than anticipated, I spent the rest of my Saturday and all of Sunday going through most of my apartment deciding what I would keep, what I would donate and what should go to the garbage. Ranger stayed with me at my apartment on Saturday and I stayed with him on Sunday after he convinced me it would give me more time to sleep on Monday morning before being to work by 9 a.m. And considering he kept me awake late into the evening, I was thankful for the extra time.

Ranger woke me when he returned from his workout at 6:30. He knew I wanted plenty of time to get ready. We shared breakfast and then while he headed down for the morning meeting, I got ready. I wanted to surprise Ranger by showing up downstairs fully dressed. I wanted him to know I was taking my role with the company seriously. I smiled as I attached my thigh holster, hoping Ranger would appreciate the effort and perhaps take extra time to show me how much he appreciated it later.

Apparently several of the Merry Men wanted a shot at being my partner, so I would have to partner with two each day and have my final decision by the end of the week My first day I would spend partnering with Manny and Hal. I was still very nervous about having to choose between them but was reassured by each one that there would be no hard feelings.

I can tell you, Manny must have wanted to be my official partner awfully bad to start the day by bringing me two Boston Creams and a cup of coffee made to perfection. I had been waiting in the kitchen for them to arrive and heard the elevator before they knocked. Before I opened the door to greet Manny and I Hal I heard Hal telling him, "That's low man. You could at least let me tell her the coffee's from me." I opened the door quickly hearing the word coffee not allowing them time to knock and was rewarded with a huge smile on Manny and a blush creeping up Hal's face. It might be fun to keep Hal as my partner just to have someone around who seems to blush more often than I do.

Manny handed over the goods and we were on our way out the door. They already had two skip files left over from Saturday morning that they had done preliminary research on. Tommy Mancuso, age 45 had assaulted a female bartender leaving her shift at a bar just off Stark Street. He was highly intoxicated at the time and claimed he thought she was a 'ho and was just trying to "score." When the guys did their research, they found out he liked to drink heavily most nights and could likely be found sleeping it off in his apartment located at the end of Stark. While that part of Stark wasn't somewhere I would feel very comfortable going alone, with two Merry Men with me, I didn't mind.

We arrived at Mancuso's apartment and as predicted he was passed out on his couch. Manny picked the lock and he, Hal and I approached Mancuso in silence. Hal was just behind me but when I bent down to pick up the beer can I had knocked onto the carpet, Hal stepped in front of me to assist Manny with cuffing Mancuso. About that time, he woke up and threw up all over Hal. Manny gagged, turned and threw up on his own shoes.

I stood there momentarily looking like a fish and then jumped to action and was able to cuff Mancuso before he could get himself off the couch. I had to hide my grin that I was the only one walking away clean from this. Maybe my luck was changing.

We delivered Mancuso to the station and then stopped by Manny's apartment so he and Hal could clean up. It was amazing to me that men could clean up so quickly. Manny and Hal combined took less time than me.

The next skip we were looking for was Stanley Gallo. He had held up Ricci's Liquor Store on Stockton Street. Stanley lived on the edge of the Burg and his wife recently left him for his neighbor and best friend Guiseppe Costa. He came home from work on a Thursday afternoon to find his wife's side of the closet completely empty and a note saying sorry, but that she and Guiseppe were in love and she was going to be moving in with him. Apparently she left their liquor cabinet and bank account empty as well and Stanley was in need of a little comfort, which led him to Ricci's. His bond was high because he robbed the store at gunpoint and shot the clerk in the shoulder in his efforts to get away. Unfortunately for Stanley, he didn't also attempt to take out the camera behind the counter, which captured his crime in living color. Luckily for Stanley, the shot was a clean in and out with no serious damage done. The clerk, Tom Lyons, had gone through a similar situation with his ex-wife and didn't file additional charges against Stanley. Instead, he invited him to a support group.

Grandma Mazur and Stanley's soon to be ex-wife, Margaret, often spent time together at the Clip –n- Curl so when Stanley saw me with Manny and Hal, he decided to come without any argument. He didn't want to give Margaret anything more to talk about at the salon.

I finished my shift playing 20 questions to pass the time of a four-hour surveillance shift. I learned that Manny's favorite donuts were jelly-filled and that he had had two this morning between the Tasty Pastry and meeting me. Hal doesn't like donuts, but he loves chocolate chip muffins. He told me he would bring me one next time. Neither answered very succinctly when asked questions about their family, leaving me to believe they either weren't close with family or weren't comfortable sharing that much personal information with me.

Ranger and I had dinner together, but spent Monday evening sleeping apart as he had to cover a surveillance shift from 10-2. Despite knowing I would be missing Ranger as well as his sheets, I decided to spend the night in my own apartment. There were still some things I needed to go through in anticipation for my upcoming move. Tuesday morning I awoke to feather light kisses moving down across my jaw and down my neck. When I opened my eyes I was greeted by two nearly black with desire eyes and an almost smile.

"Morning, Babe."

"Mmmm." That seemed to be all I could muster at 6 a.m. I was trying desperately hard to be angry that he woke me up when I still had 30 minutes before my alarm clock went off, but I suppose if I had to wake up early, this was a pretty nice way to wake up.

"I missed holding you in my arms last night," Ranger said as he continued to kiss down my body after lifting my shirt up and over my head.

"I missed you too. I had the hardest time falling asleep. I tried in vain to organize my pillows around me, but they just didn't compare to you," I said sounding slightly breathy even to my own ears. "Isn't it early for you to be finished with your morning workout?"

"I decided to forgo a normal workout and instead I ran over here and thought I would see if I could interest you in joining me in the shower," Ranger said lifting his head and giving me his famous wolf-grin as his hands slowly slid down my body and rested on top of my mound with only a light strip of panties separating him from where I wanted him to be.

"You know, I've been told before you are pretty good in the shower but it has been a while, so I might need a reminder," I said to him giving him my own attempt at a wolf-grin as my hand slid under the waist band of his basketball shorts.

Before I knew it, he had me up with my legs wrapped around his body and was quickly moving into the bathroom. He held me as he reached in to turn on the water to allow it to warm up and then with one hand under my thigh for support his other hand proceeded to rip off my panties and toss them aside. I quickly helped to relieve him of his shirt and he somehow managed to lose the shorts and before I knew it I was pressed up against the cold tile wall. A small shriek from the sudden coldness was caught with Ranger's mouth as he aggressively kissed me as if we had spent weeks apart instead of just one night.

Forty-five minutes later we were both clean after our second attempt and my memory was definitely refreshed with how good he was in the shower. I would have to curl my hair creatively today if I was going to avoid showing the marks Ranger left on my neck. Not that I was at all embarrassed by them, but I was partnering with Lester and Bobby today and I didn't need to give Lester any extra ammunition for his attempts to have me constantly blushing.

Ranger and I rode together to Haywood for me to meet Lester and Bobby. We had a high dollar skip to go after and they hadn't had much luck in tracking him down so we were going to spend a little time digging deeper in the search engines to see where he might be hiding out. The guys know the programs and are pretty good with them, but sometimes they don't think outside the box when looking for clues to find a skip. I will admit, that is one thing I'm pretty good at.

An hour later we were on our way to 587 State St. to pick up Albert DeSalva. I couldn't help but balk at the name when I first saw the skip's file. Bobby had asked me what was with the face I made and I explained that his name was one letter off from the name of the Boston Strangler, Albert DeSalvo and his crime was strikingly similar. DeSalva, 33 had sexually assaulted Maria Finelli, a 24-year-old nursing student after her shift at St. Francis Hospital. She had been walking home in the early evening when he pulled her into an alley, raped her and was attempting to suffocate her with a plastic bag when one of the TPD's finest happened to walk by. Luckily the cop, not one I was familiar with, heard her struggling and was able to subdue DeSalva just in time. Hospital reports showed serious lack of oxygen and had her airway been compromised much longer it would have had a different outcome.

Lester and Bobby tried to get me to stay in the SUV for this pick up but after my best Burg glare they agreed to let me participate but pleaded with me to stay back. DeSalva was dangerous and they didn't want me to get caught in the crossfire if he happened to be armed. The takedown was easy, too easy in fact and it left me with my spidey senses screaming. Lester had knocked on the door and when DeSalva answered, Bobby quickly maneuvered behind him blocking his retreat back inside. DeSalva had his eyes on me the entire time and I don't even think he heard what Lester was saying or realize that Bobby was cuffing him. He hummed a creepy song the entire way to the police station. When Bobby got him out of the back of the SUV at the station he leaned toward the front passenger window where I was sitting and gave me a sinister grin that caused goose bumps to spread all over my arms. That was one guy I hoped to never cross paths with again. Lester noticed my shiver and asked if I was ok. I nodded and said, "yeah, just a little cold." Since it was early November, it was believable. I didn't want to make a big deal about DeSalva.

With our only skip now in custody, I convinced Bobby and Lester to take some time working on a little bit of self-defense and B&E with me. I'm still not sure about spending time in the gym, but I had promised Ranger I would try to improve my other skills to be more effective and with time on my hands I figured I would get a jump on it.

Bobby showed me how to get out of a few basic holds that I would come across if being attacked from the back. After several attempts with each hold we moved to front holds. I had to reign in my panic the first time Bobby straddled me and put his hands to my throat. After explaining that this would be a difficult hold to get out of and that I wanted to avoid getting into this position with a skip, as if that wasn't obvious, Bobby showed me a couple tricks to get out of it. Two hours later I was in need of lunch and my stomach was speaking up loudly. With a chuckle, Lester suggested Shorty's and even though it was no Pino's it was still pretty good pizza, so I readily agreed.

During lunch I attempted the same game of 20 questions to see if I could get these guys to let down some of their walls and share a little bit of their personal lives with me. I learned that Bobby and Lester both met Ranger in boot camp but that they knew they would always have each other's back after a mission overseas that they couldn't elaborate on. I appreciated that small detail and didn't push any further, respecting that they shared what they could.

While Lester spent a lot of his time joking through his answers, Bobby really did open up. More than any of the Merry Men had before. He told me he has a younger sister, Monica who is married and lives in Alabama with her husband and two year old son Alex. She works as a lawyer and her husband is an engineer. Bobby spoke with such pride in his voice when he described her, Alex and her husband John. It was great to see him being so open. He explained that he had a great relationship with his Mom, Judy but that his Dad, Robert and he didn't have the best relationship. His Dad wasn't happy that Bobby hadn't chosen to make a career with the Army, being a career Naval Commander himself. While his Dad seemed to respect what he was doing now, things hadn't been the same since Bobby left active service and he didn't seem to hide his disappointment in him.

That was something Bobby and I had in common. A parent who didn't seem to understand the choices we made and weren't afraid to let us know their disappointment in the fact that we didn't choose what they thought was best for us.

After lunch, we worked on B&E. Lester showed me how to pick just about any and every lock I could potentially come across, including handcuffs. He had me working on them in front of me, behind my back and while secured to shackles at my ankles. I'm sure I looked silly while I struggled to open them, but neither Lester nor Bobby allowed their faces to show it if they thought so, which made me more comfortable during my attempts. The B&E work took up the rest of the afternoon and before I knew it I was meeting Ranger on seven for dinner. We discussed the apartment I found and I showed him where it was located out his living room window. He smiled at how close I would potentially be and agreed to go with me the next day to check it out.

After my chocolate cake prepared especially for me by Ella, Ranger carried me to the bed where we laid together in each other's arms. He told me he had to make up for the time he missed having me in his arms the night before. We spent hours holding one another talking about family, the goals he had for RangeMan, and how he saw me helping him reach those goals. We talked about our future together and while we didn't spend much time discussing marriage or kids, Ranger did tell me of all the places he wanted to take me around the world. We spent hours making love and then drifted to sleep holding tightly to one another. It was one of the best night's sleep I had ever had.

**TBC…**

_Author's Note: So…what do you think? Please let me know how I'm fairing. Review! _


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. Darn it!**

**Warnings: Possible 1-18**

_Previously:_

_After my chocolate cake prepared especially for me by Ella, Ranger carried me to the bed where we laid together in each other's arms. He told me he had to make up for the time he missed having me in his arms the night before. We spent hours holding one another talking about family, the goals he had for RangeMan and how he saw me helping him reach those goals. We talked about our future together and while we didn't spend much time discussing marriage or kids, Ranger did tell me of all the places he wanted to take me around the world. We spent hours making love and then drifted to sleep holding tightly to one another. It was one of the best night's sleep I had ever had._

CH. 7

Wednesday morning I awoke to Ranger's alarm beeping at 5 a.m. And while I was mentally groaning at the early hour, I had promised myself after how successful I felt working with Lester and Bobby the day before that I would surprise Ranger and join him in the gym.

So while he was in the bathroom, I slipped into the closet, grabbed my workout gear and met him in the bedroom as he was exiting the bathroom. I saw the look of shock flash quickly across Ranger's face and then was offered a half smile and a "Babe". I let him get ready in the dressing room while I rush to the bathroom to take care of nature's call, brush my teeth and wrangle my hair into a messy ponytail. Then Ranger took my hand, led me to the kitchen where he grabbed an extra water bottle for me before we headed down to three together.

An hour later I let myself into the apartment soaked in sweat, but actually feeling good. I had spent half my time on an elliptical, which was far more manageable for me than a treadmill and then attempted some of the weight lifting machines. Bobby had come up to me when I was working on one of the thigh machines and told me he would be happy to develop a workout plan if I was interested and that he was really glad to see me down there this morning. I smiled to myself as I remember the look on his face when I tripped trying to get up from one of the machines. Thankfully I didn't fall down and no one else seemed to notice. Bobby gave me a wink and threw "let me know if you want my help with a plan" over his shoulder as he moved to the mats to spar with Lester. I hoped the wink meant my almost fall was our little secret and thought to myself I might actually want to take him up on his offer for help as I grabbed a towel and headed upstairs.

I spent the rest of the morning working with Brett and Hector going over specs for a new client's estate that would be receiving an install that afternoon. They were finalizing where they were going to be putting the cameras and Brett was joking about how nervous Mrs. Clark had been in their first few meetings together. Brett translated for me that Hector said he was glad I was going to be with them for the install because he thought it might help to calm her nerves. They assured me they would bring extra equipment with us in case I thought of any other places we should place the cameras. I wasn't sure how much help I would be, but appreciated the vote of confidence they seemed to be offering.

Ranger and I spent our lunch hour walking through the apartment complex. I told him about Lula's interest in the building as well and that she would just be a few floors down. I also showed him the view from my bedroom window to his windows and that I liked the idea of being so close to him. He mentioned me just moving in with him again, but followed it up with understanding my need to continue to maintain a piece of my independence. With a kiss and an "It's an open invitation, Babe," we were on our way with his approval. Apparently, RangeMan already ran security for the building so if that was where I wanted to be, he considered it safe enough. We stopped by the super's office on the way out so I could quickly finalize the papers and was given the keys and told I could move in anytime after Friday.

I met Brett and Hector in the garage when we arrived back at Haywood. They were ready to head to the Clark's but promised they would run through McDonald's for me since I had missed lunch and my stomach was beginning to protest. A Big Mac, fries and large Coke later and we were finally on our way. When we arrived, Mrs. Clark was on the porch and I could see the tension in her shoulders and the nerves written on her face. I greeted her with a warm smile and brought my Burg manners out in full force.

She showed me around and explained the reasons behind the need for the new security while Hector and Brett got started on the install. She expressed to me that even though the baby's room was on the second floor and just across the hall, she had a bad feeling based on some emails her husband had received. I had Brett add sensors to all the second floor windows and a camera that captured the outside of the back of the house, but were discreet enough that people wouldn't recognize them.

I also suggested a panic button for the master bedroom and nursery. I've learned to listen to my bad feelings and if Mrs. Clark was nervous enough to hire a security company, then she should stick to her guns and have as many extras as we could provide. I also recommended that they amend their contract with us to have the cameras monitored 24/7. I also suggested they keep RangeMan on-call for bodyguard services. I told her not to take the threatening emails lightly and that if she had a bad feeling it was better to be proactive instead of reactive. I explained how it worked and promised her she could trust us. It seems she had been hesitant to have the interior of her home under constant monitoring. After about 20 minutes of explaining how I trusted these men with my life she readily agreed, which attributed to a substantial increase in the revenue RangeMan would be receiving. Maybe Ranger was right after all and I would be of benefit to his company.

I attempted my 20 questions game with Brett and Hector but met quite a bit of resistance. They were happy to talk about the easy stuff like their favorite foods, sports teams and what kind of music they liked, but when I asked anything personal they seemed to clam up. I felt like this was a really good assessment for how I would be able to work with them. I totally understand the need to be serious but if I was going to be stuck with one of these guys for several hours on surveillance, I needed for them to be able to keep me awake.

I spent Thursday with Tank and Cal. Normally Tank would be partnered with Ranger, but since Ranger and I both agreed it would be far to distracting to try to be partners at work, he asked that I at least give Tank a shot. Cal had recently been promoted to part of the A-team, and seemed excited to have some new responsibilities within the company. We talked about the takedown he had planned from the night before and how smoothly it had gone.

Tank and Cal spent quite a bit of time trying to sell me on how great guns were and with much reluctance, I agreed to spending some time in the range with them that afternoon since we only had one skip to round up. We stopped by the Bonds office to make sure Connie didn't have anything new for us and I needed to tell Lula that it was official that I would be moving into the new apartment.

You could cut the tension between Lula and Tank with a knife and I felt bad for my two friends. I knew how great they were together and it was obvious by their body language how much they still cared for each other, but Lula had scared Tank off pushing marriage on him so quickly. I was hoping I could convince them both to give it another shot, but today definitely wasn't the day for that. We left with me promising Lula to help her move some of her things on Sunday if she helped me on Saturday and we were on our way.

An hour later, we were dropping Rodney Shultz at the cop shop. Cal had had to give chase and Tank and I took the SUV to cut him off around the corner. When we pulled up I ran toward Rodney causing him to stutter step and Cal rammed into him from behind. They collided and tumbled right over a loaded garbage bag. It smelled like the bag had been on the curb for days and that there was some type of meat in it. After a small scuffle, Tank and I got Rodney cuffed and Cal was attempting in vain to clean himself off. He smiled at me and I hoped that smile meant he didn't blame me for causing their collision. Of course, it could have meant, 'I hope your tendency to roll in garbage doesn't rub off on me if we end up partnering together'.

After a quick clean up, we headed for lunch at a small Italian restaurant around the corner from Haywood. I definitely took note that it was close to my new apartment building and that they delivered. During lunch Cal opened up some during my 20 questions game. While we differed in our favorite teams for nearly ever sport imaginable, we shared a love of dessert. He had never had pineapple upside down cake before, but he loved tiramisu and promised one day soon he would make it for me. Apparently his Grandma had taught him how to make it along with a few other Italian dishes. Cal's Grandma was part Italian, and while his Grandfather wasn't, he loved to eat Italian food. Cal spent a lot of time with his grandparents growing up, getting his love of guns from his Grandfather and learning how to cook from his Grandma. I was excited to have another Merry Man open up as much as Bobby had and couldn't wait to try his cooking.

We spent the afternoon in the gun range as promised, and while I was still a long way from even really liking my gun, I did feel more comfortable with it after a few hours of shooting. Ranger rewarded my efforts in the range with a full body massage that night. I thought to myself that I could really learn to love time in the range if I was rewarded the same way every night.

I spent Friday with Binkie and Zip. We had one skip to go over and then we were going to be preparing for a distraction that night. While I normally just agree to the distraction and get the details on the way to the bar, several of the Merry Men thought it might be good to get my input beforehand to see if I would go about it differently than they usually did.

Since our skip was at work and we agreed it would be best to catch him at the end of his shift, we decided to spend a little time developing more of my skills. Turns out Binkie is fantastic at handling knives. He worked with me on how to pull one from various places on my body without injuring myself and to be in a ready stance instantly. He also worked with me throwing knives. Zip worked on a few martial arts moves with me. He said it was like sparring and self-defense combined. He wanted me to be able to protect myself if I was attacked and wasn't able to use any weapons. I was flying high after our session and was pumped for the rest of the day.

Picking up the skip went smoothly, well for me anyways. Zip wasn't as fortunate. We had met up with the skip, Michael Bonaldi, coming off his shift at Bernadelli's, a lousy Italian restaurant located on the edge of the Burg. I knew it was lousy because Joe had taken me there once. We both ended up with food poisoning. I was sick for three days and wouldn't brave going there again. Joe thought it was a fluke and tried it again a couple month's later. He shared a sub with Bob and they both ended up sick. Thankfully, I had been out of town with Mary Lou so I wasn't forced to clean up after him and Bob. Joe didn't go there again after that.

Bonaldi was coming out the back door as we approached. He had a container of food and a coke in his hands, I'm guessing for a late lunch, when he spotted us. Zip moved to approach him first, but before he could finish explaining who we were, Bonaldi threw his container of what turned out to be spaghetti at Zip, catching him slightly off guard, so he ended up with noodles and sauce stuck to his long, sandy blond hair. He threw his Coke at Binkie, who managed to avoid being hit with it, and as he attempted to round on me, I instinctively caught him at the ankles with my right leg and caused him to fall to the ground on his ass.

Zip, who had recovered from being doused in spaghetti, was able to quickly cuff him and stun him for good measure. I think the stun was in retaliation for the spaghetti. Binkie smirked at Zip who returned it with his own version of a blank face glare. I managed to contain my laughter and we delivered Bonaldi to the station.

After relaxing in Ranger's apartment for a couple hours I met the team in a conference room on five to prepare for that night's distraction. We were going after Gordon Silvani, 36, wanted for aggravated assault and carrying concealed. He would be at Foxy Lady, a dive bar located at Stockton and Sixth. It was incredibly close to Slayer territory and caused butterflies to swarm in my stomach. Ranger realized I recognized the address and come behind me to place a reassuring hand on my neck and whispered, "I've got your back Babe, no need to worry." Leaving his hand there, he began addressing the group.

"Men, we have received confirmation from the manager at Foxy Lady that Silvani will be there tonight. He frequents the bar every third night like clockwork. The manager eluded to the fact that Silvani operates the same each time. He arrives shortly after 10, orders a drink at the bar, plays a game of pool, finds a woman to dance with and then leaves with her. The woman he is accused of assaulting he picked up at the bar and she says he assaulted her in his car parked in the back parking lot. We have a small window and we don't want his hands anywhere on Stephanie. Ideas?"

"Stephanie could lead him out the front suggesting her car," Binkie offered up.

"No, he never leaves in the woman's car," Ranger countered. "Next?"

"One of us could start a fight with him over Steph on the dance floor and whoever is standing in as bouncer could throw us out the front," Lester suggested.

Ranger stood stoically still for a moment before saying, "That could work, what else?"

"I say we don't deviate from the normal," I added. "If I try to coax him out the front, he might catch on that something is up. Why don't I readily agree to leave with him out the back?"

"There is a narrow walkway from the back door to the parking lot. We don't want to give him the opportunity to corner you in that walkway, Babe."

"Look at these blueprints. If you position a guy in this back storage room, as soon as we go to step out the back door, they could step out and follow us. He would be surrounded," I offered.

Ranger looked as if he was considering my idea. "That could work. I still think we should try to get him out the front first. Santos, you pick a fight with him on the dance floor. Hal will be bouncer. You throw them both out the front, where Tank and Manny will be waiting to take him down. Bobby and I will be out back and Binkie, you'll be posted in the storage room by the back door in case he doesn't fall for the fight. Hector will be behind the bar and Brett, Ram and Cal will be extras on the inside. I want all contingencies covered."

With the plan developed and after a toe-curling kiss, I left Ranger to finish up for the day and I headed back to my apartment to get ready. I liked being involved in developing the plan and hoped it was something that continued in the future.

**TBC…**

_Author's Note: Ok…her week tryout is almost done. Who do you think she should chose? Will the distraction go smoothly and whose plan will end up working? Please review!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. Darn it!**

**Warnings: Possible 1-18**

**Author's Note: I really appreciate the feedback I've been getting so far. It really helps the writing process to know if I'm keeping you interested in the story or if I'm going too fast or too slow. It is also interesting to see how you interpret certain things I write about. Please continue to review. And if you haven't dropped me a note yet, please do. It really helps!**

_Previously: _

_With the plan developed and after a toe-curling kiss, I left Ranger to finish up for the day and I headed back to my apartment to get ready. I liked being involved in developing the plan and hoped it was something that continued in the future. _

Ch. 8

When I arrived back at my apartment I had just enough time for a quick nap before I would need to get ready. Ranger was going to pick me up at 9. The plan was for me to already be in the bar when Silvani arrives. Since he is usually only there for a short time, we didn't want to risk missing our window.

I awoke from my 45-minute nap feeling refreshed. I took a quick shower to shampoo, shave and exfoliate. Can't risk rubbing up against anyone with anything less than smooth, soft skin. Dangerous skip or not, a Jersey girl has her standards.

My dress for the evening was a skin-tight, halter style, bright red dress. It had built in bra cups that accentuated my cleavage in a very generous way causing me to look like I was blessed with much larger breasts. However, the material was a fairly thin cotton, so it would be nearly impossible to miss my nipples. I figured I could use that to my advantage. The dress fell about 6 inches above my knees and held tightly to my hips enhancing the curve of my ass.

I accompanied it with black fishnet thigh-high stockings attached with a garter belt and a silky black thong. I also wore matching red FMP's with a five-inch heel. I would definitely be defying gravity tonight. I decided to play up the eye makeup with a dark smoky shadow, a couple coats of dark eyeliner and about three coats of mascara.

My hair was bunched up on the top of my head in a messy bun with tendrils of curls left down around my face and a couple down my neck. I took a last look in the mirror and was feeling very confident in my choices for the evening. I chose a bright red lipstick and then after looking at the clock and seeing how close it was to 9 it was decided I could use another coat of mascara.

True to form, at five minutes til 9, I heard my locks tumble. I took one more glance in the mirror and then headed out into the living room to find Ranger. As I rounded the corner, Ranger glanced up at me and froze. His eyes instantly darkened and I could tell I chose well.

In two strides, Ranger reached me and quickly pinned me to the wall devouring my mouth in a searing kiss. I lifted my right leg and wrapped it around his hip feeling his length grinding against me through his black slacks. Ranger reached up and with one tug, ripped my thong off. With a gush of wetness, the front of his pants were wet and an animalistic growl emanated from deep in his chest. I could no longer contain the moan and as I released it, Ranger lifted my left leg to join the other wrapped around him. I felt so close already from the combination of him grinding against me and the kissing that had moved across my jaw and down my neck. Just as Ranger was unzipping his pants his phone rang, bringing us back to reality.

With a ragged breath, Ranger flipped open his phone with a "Yo." He listened for a second and said, "We'll be right down."

Regretfully, he slowly lowered me to the ground back onto two very unsteady legs. He held me tight to him and placed one more long, passionate kiss on my mouth. Placing his forehead to mine as he tried to regain his composure, he said to me, "Sorry, Babe. One look at you and I forgot all about the job we have to do. All I could do was think about having you, right now."

With a sigh I nodded my head in agreement. I turned and picked up my torn panties and slipped them into Ranger's pocket. With my own version of a wolf grin I whispered to him, "Later."

"You can count on it Babe," he said as he took my hand, adjusted himself to allow him to walk and led me out the door. I quickly locked up and we headed down to the parking lot and were on our way to the Foxy Lady.

Ranger pulled over just around the corner from the bar at 9:45. He leaned over me and reached into the glove box pulling out a wire and adhesive. He slid his hand into the top of my dress, rubbed his thumb across my right nipple and attached the wire under my breast. He moved the car to in front of the bar and with one last kiss, Ranger tugged on one of my loose curls, gave me a grin and told me, "Go get 'em Tiger."

I reapplied my lipstick, I should have known better than to put it on before Ranger picked me up, gave my hair one last look squared my shoulders and took a deep breath…I was ready. I slowly stepped out of the car, with my clutch in hand and sashayed my hips as I headed into the bar. My nipples stood fully erect still from the last encounter with Ranger and as I reached Hal at the door he gave me one look and instantly lifted his eyes. I let a little giggle slip at the sight of him trying to reign in the blush that I knew was desperate to come out. He gave me a nod of the head and a "ma'am" to maintain his cover and let me pass through to the bar.

As I stepped into the bar, I gave my eyes a moment to adjust and then headed to the bar. I noticed Lester at a table near the front door, nursing a beer with Ram. Cal and Brett were across the room between the pool tables and the back door, each had a beer in front of them as well. To the casual observer, they certainly didn't look out of place. I climbed onto a stool at the bar and caught Hector's eye. He came over to get my drink and I ordered a vodka tonic with a lime. He quickly gave me my drink, which would just exclude the vodka, as everyone on the RangeMan team knows I'm a lightweight when it comes to drinking.

I was turned away from the bar on the stool, my right leg crossed over my left with my FMP dangling from my toe as my leg bounced slightly, when I noticed Silvani enter the bar. He was headed to the bar when he spotted me. He grabbed a stool two down from me on my left and ordered a shot of tequila and a beer.

A sexy sounding song began playing on the jukebox. I had never heard it before, but it definitely had a beat that could allow for close dancing. I was swaying in the chair but noticed through my corner of my eye that Silvani was watching me.

I glanced over at him and gave him the sexiest grin I could muster and said, "Hi."

He smiled back at me, which made me want to shiver but I managed to suppress it, and he returned my greeting. He slid over to the stool directly beside me and began to run his fingers down my arm. "Would you like to dance," he asked me.

"I'd love to," I answered using all my strength to push the bile back down my throat that was threatening to come out just from him touching me.

He led me to the dance floor and held me close as we swayed to the song. He whispered in my ear, "I've never seen you here before, sexy. What brings you out tonight?"

"I just dumped my boyfriend a few days ago and decided it was time to put my hottest dress on and work on finding his replacement. He was lousy in bed and I haven't had an orgasm in months and I'm getting desperate." I figured I would use the hormones that Ranger left me raging with to my advantage.

Silvani gave me an evil grin and said, "I'd be happy to help you out with that problem."

I decided to bait him a little and asked, "What makes you think you're up for the challenge?"

"I've never had any complaints before," he answered me as he rubbed himself against me.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes and quipped, "He told me the same thing. And I ended up with major complaints." I didn't want it to seem to easy for him.

He leaned in and lowered his voice to what I presumed was his bedroom voice and said, "Why don't we get out of here and I'll prove it to you?"

I leaned back and asked, "Your car or mine? I'm out front."

"Mine. Its out back," he answered grabbing my hand and dragging me toward the back exit.

As we headed down the hallway toward the back exit, he pushed me up against the storage room door and began kissing my neck. "I can't wait until we are somewhere else, sexy, I want to help you with your problem now" he said to me as he opened the door to the storage room.

We entered the room and just as Silvani released me and turned to secure the lock on the door, Binkie moved from behind him and zapped him with his stun gun. I looked at Binkie and grinned. "I knew this room could be used to our benefit," I said.

Binkie bent down and cuffed Silvani while I unlocked and opened the door to Ranger and Bobby both giving me a grin. "You never disappoint, Babe."

Ranger took my hand and led me out the back door where he had moved the Turbo after dropping me off earlier. Bobby assisted Binkie in getting Silvani into one of the SUVs to head over to the station. Ranger leaned over and gave me one of his famous toe-curling kisses as he reached into my dress to remove my wire. He pulled back with his lips just a breath away from mine and said, "Proud of you, Babe". After another kiss, Ranger turned and pulled onto the road to head home while I was able to revel in the fact that my suggestion of having someone posted in the storage room actually paid off.

Ranger flew through the streets of Trenton toward Haywood in his usual zone. I rested my head against the headrest using the quiet to reflect on my week and whom I would want to partner with.

We reached Haywood in record time and before I knew it we were walking into Ranger's apartment on seven. As soon as he closed the front door, Ranger pinned me up against the wall. He huskily whispered, "No orgasm in months, huh Babe?"

"Well, I haven't had one since last night, it feels like months. Especially after the state you got me in before we left my apartment," I replied.

Ranger's voice got even lower if possible and his eyes were as black as coal. He leaned in kissing down my neck and was planting kisses along the swell of my breasts when he said, "Well, how do you think I felt having your panties in my pocket and knowing that you were in there with that creep with nothing on under this incredibly hot dress?"

"Well, you were the one who ripped them off of me. I thought you might want them as a souvenir." Ranger gave a bark of laughter and then quickly lifted me up allowing me to wrap my legs around him.

He carried me into the bedroom and then slid me down his body to stand in front of him by the bed. Then he suggested with a feral smile, "Why don't we take a shower and wash this night off of you and then I would love more than anything to spend the rest of tonight reminding you that you will never again have to worry about a lack of orgasms."

I followed Ranger into the bathroom where he lifted me up and gently sat me on the counter. He reached in to turn on the water and allow it to heat up and then turned back to me and began to undress me. He slipped my right shoe off and then reached under my dress to unclasp my thigh-highs from my garter. He slowly removed the stocking from my leg following his hands with his mouth, causing me to shiver in anticipation. He did the same on my left side and then lifted the neck of my dress over my head exposing my breasts to him.

Ranger pulled back momentarily and whispered to me, "You are so beautiful, Babe" and then he leaned back in and took my breast in his mouth. I moaned as I arched into him desperately grabbing for the back of his shirt to assist him in removing it. Ranger made quick work of removing the rest of my dress and garter belt while I helped him to slip out of his pants. I'm not sure when he had slipped off his shoes, but they were nowhere to be seen. Ranger quickly moved into me and with one swift motion was buried deep inside me. I let out a gasp of surprise as Ranger said, "I'm sorry Babe, I couldn't wait one more second to be inside of you".

Ranger lifted me off the counter and moved us into the shower where he took me hard and fast as the hot water poured over our bodies. We both quickly reached our climax together and then slid to the floor holding on to each other.

Ranger cupped my face in his hands, looked me in the eye and said, "It is so hard to stand outside and listen as a piece of scum comes on to you knowing that you are finally mine. I know it is your job and that you enjoy it. I would never ask you to give it up, but God it kills me." Then he kissed me again with a passion and need he's never expressed. As if it just dawned on him how aggressive he had been with me, he moved back to look me in the eye and said, "Oh God Babe, I didn't hurt you did I?"

I looked him in the eye and placed my hands on his face and reassured him, "No, Carlos, you didn't hurt me."

Ranger closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the wall. I could feel him hardening inside of me as he said, "do you know what it does to me to hear you call me Carlos?"

I smiled at him as I said, "I have a pretty good idea" as I began riding him while we sat on the shower floor together. This time the pace was much slower and the passion between us grew to new heights and we kissed and held each other tightly while we slowly reached our peak and flew over together.

Hours later we were lying in bed cuddled close to one another, Ranger on his back with me tucked tightly to his side. His hand was drawing random patterns on my back and my hand was running up and down his chest of its own accord.

I whispered, "I love you, Carlos" as I was slowly drifting to sleep. Ranger squeezed me tighter and said, "I love you, Stephanie," just before our breathing evened out and we were both asleep.

**TBC…**

_Author's Note: Ok folks…what do you think? Feedback really helps me move the story along. Please review!_


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. Darn it!**

**Warnings: Possible 1-18**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in posting. I was out of town for a few days and wasn't near a computer to be able to get this chapter up. I hope to have more frequent updates again. **

**I really appreciate the feedback I've been getting so far. It really helps the writing process to know if I'm keeping you interested in the story or if I'm going too fast or too slow. It is also interesting to see how you interpret certain things I write about. Please continue to review. If you have reviewed and I haven't responded I apologize. Some of you have your PMs turned off. And if you haven't dropped me a note yet, please do. It really helps!**

_Previously:_

_I whispered, "I love you, Carlos" as I was slowly drifting to sleep. Ranger squeezed me tighter and said, "I love you, Stephanie," just before our breathing evened out and we were both asleep._

Ch. 9

Saturday morning came incredibly early. Ranger and I had spent the majority of the night making love to each other so when his alarm went off at 5 a.m., we both groaned. I had to giggle hearing him groan about the earliness of the hour. Maybe I'm wearing off on him a little bit too.

I reluctantly threw back the covers and stumbled into the bathroom to take care of nature's call. I quickly brushed my teeth and threw my hair up into a ponytail. I walked out of the bathroom toward the dressing room to put on work out clothes. Normally the only time I'm comfortable being naked is in the throws of passion, but something about the way Ranger had whispered he loved me last night gave me a boost of self confidence like I've never experienced before.

Ranger glanced at me on my way from the bathroom to the dressing room and gave me his customary wolf-grin as he started to stalk towards me. With a laugh and a smile of my own, I said, "Not so fast buddy! We have a busy day ahead of us. I promised you I would run with you and you promised me you would supply the Merry Men to assist me in moving to my new apartment. If we get back in bed there is no way I'm holding up my end of the deal. I can barely walk the way it is."

Ranger gave out a bark of laughter and with a kiss on the forehead headed into the bathroom allowing me to get dressed for a workout. An hour later we arrived back in the apartment, with me sweating like a pig and looking like a train wreck while Ranger had a nice sheen of sweat on him and he was looking as sexy as ever. After a shared shower, it is important to conserve water you know, we were on our way to move me into my new apartment.

Many of the Merry Men who weren't on duty volunteered to help me move apartments. I was grateful for the help as I knew it would make the move go so much faster. Thankfully, I had most of my boxes already packed up so I was hopeful it wouldn't turn into an all day event.

Shortly after we arrived at my apartment, Bobby, Tank, Hal, Hector, Binkie and Manny arrived to help. Lula arrived shortly after the guys carrying a box of donuts and two cups of coffee. When she realized all the guys were there, her mouth dropped open. She said, "Da-amn. If I'd a known I was feeding an army I'd a come better prepared."

I smiled at her and as I grabbed a donut and the cup of coffee meant for me, I said, "No worries. I already promised to feed them pizza later. I'm sure they wouldn't want to damage the temple twice in one day."

We set to work and within less than two hours everything from my apartment was loaded into the various RangeMan vehicles. I would still need to come back and clean up some, but everything I owned was out. I couldn't believe how fast it had gone. The Merry Men certainly are efficient.

I noticed that Lula had pretty much avoided Tank during the time spent at my old apartment. As Ranger and I drove over to my new apartment, I contemplated ways to get them in the same room and talking.

After everything was unloaded from the vehicles and was pilled mostly in the designated rooms, the men set about helping me to unpack. I asked the guys to go ahead and set my bed up in the spare bedroom. With the size of my new master bedroom, I knew I wanted to get a king size bed.

Despite my best efforts to get them talking, Tank and Lula never seemed to be in the same room at the same time. Just as I thought it was a lost cause, Tank spoke up. "Hey Lula, me and Bobby are off again tomorrow, we could help you move your stuff too if you want."

I was shocked. Lula looked like she was shocked too. She stared at Tank for a minute like she didn't know what to say then she smiled at him and said, "I'd love some help. My place around 9?"

"I'll be there," Tank confirmed.

Based on the looks going around the table I wasn't the only one shocked my Tank's move. Maybe there was hope for them after all.

Sunday went smoothly as well. It was surprising that Lula had nearly as much stuff as I did coming from a much smaller apartment than I started with. Tank had brought Bobby, Brett, Erik and Hal for help. The rest of the guys who had helped me the day before were working. The fact that these guys were giving up their days off to help Lula moved just confirmed my thoughts on how fantastic my Merry Men really were.

After getting Lula mostly situated, Ranger and I left to go furniture shop. I didn't have the money to fully outfit my entire apartment with new things, but I did want a bigger bed for my room. After nearly getting kicked out of the store for testing out the mattresses, I decided on one. They had it in stock in their warehouse, so Ranger loaded it up in his truck allowing me to have my new bed that night.

After getting it home and set up, Ranger helped me to christen it for several hours. Man, I should buy new furniture every day if we were going to get to christen it all like that. Afterwards, we lay in each other's arms just enjoying being together. We were silent for about 10 minutes before Ranger asked, "Have you made your decision about a partner yet, Babe?"

I knew that question was coming and even though I felt comfortable with my decision I was still a little nervous. I just didn't want to let any of the Merry Men down. Sensing my nerves on the subject, Ranger tightened his arms around me and said, "You know the guys promised they won't have any hard feelings. Tell me who you want to partner with and I'll make it happen."

"I think I'd like to partner with Bobby," I answered after taking a deep breath. "We actually have a lot in common and he has really opened up to me recently. I know he is a member of the core team and if that makes it difficult, I can choose someone else, but I really think Bobby and I would be a good fit."

"Consider it done, Babe. Besides, with as accident prone as you are, having the company medic as your partner might not be the worst idea," Ranger teased.

I couldn't hold back my laughter despite trying to be upset about his reasoning. The fact of the matter was it was the truth. Having someone around who could patch me up quickly if needed was definitely a selling point for Bobby. With that issue handled, Ranger brought his body back on top of mine and his voice husky again with desire, said "Now that that's settled, we're still off the clock for several more hours. What do you say we quit talking about work and focus on _us_?"

I gasped and then moaned as Ranger inserted two fingers into my wet folds, taking me by surprise. His mouth crushed to mine as we gave into passion yet again. I wasn't sure I would be able to walk the next day, let alone continue to train and chase skips, but it would be worth it. Oh boy, was it worth it!

_**Three weeks later…**_

My partnership with Bobby and my relationship with Ranger couldn't be going any better. Bobby continued to open up to me and we spent a good amount of time talking about our pasts. I, of course, understood when Bobby couldn't elaborate on certain aspects of his military career. And I believe he understood when I didn't want to spend a great deal of time going through details of my relationships with Dickie and Morelli.

Joe had indeed left for Philadelphia. Terri, on the other hand, did not go with him. She had over heard him trying to talk me into changing my mind about ending our relationship and going with him and things went downhill rapidly from there. I honestly hope Joe finds happiness in Philly. Deep down he is a good guy, we just weren't meant to be together. I don't think he and Terri were meant to be together either.

Ranger had been out of town for a few days working in Miami and spending a little time with Julie. He had tried to convince me to go with him, but I encouraged him to spend the time with his daughter one-on-one. He owed it to himself and to her to work on that relationship. He had been having more contact with her since the Scrog incident and she had practically begged him to spend some time with her over her Christmas break. He promised he would be home by Christmas Eve so we could spend Christmas together. That was only three days away.

Bobby had to stay in the office to finish up some year end physicals for a few of the guys who had to have them done before the end of the year and were going to be out of town visiting family for the holidays. I assured him I would be fine working with one of the other guys.

The staff was lighter as some of the guys elected to take their holiday break early, so my choices of partner were limited. Lester, Tank and Cal were working with one of the very lucrative clients, a jewelry store, who wanted an upgrade to their contract before the end of the year. They were on sight at the store going over schematics and attempting to up-sell to the CEO, Norman Fishman, to allow RangeMan to secure his stores in New York, Philly and Boston. I had reviewed the contract and offered some suggestions, including adding background checks on employees as part of what we offer. When working with the quality of product that Mr. Fishman did, I knew he would appreciate the forethought to make sure his employees were trustworthy.

Zip had agreed to be my partner for the day, since Binkie was one of the guys visiting family, which left him without a partner as well. It was a Friday afternoon and we were going after one last skip before taking the weekend and then Christmas off. The skip, Justin Papurie, was arrested for armed robbery of the 7/11 on Broad St. He had pulled a gun on the clerk demanding the money in the register. When it was emptied and he only had $75 and some change he was angry, so he spent some time ripping the shelves of snacks apart. During his tirade, one of the customers who had been hiding at the end of the row managed to stun him, knocking him unconscious until the cops arrived.

He was a high-bond skip so he automatically went to RangeMan. He was worth about $30,000 to RangeMan and with the bail expiring the day after Christmas our time was limited. Zip and Binkie had done a few surveillance shifts on his house but he hadn't been there in more than a week. I knew his name sounded familiar so I called my Grandma to ask her if she had heard of him at all.

"Hey Baby Granddaughter, I was hoping to hear from you soon," Grandma greeted me. I was so relieved she had answered the phone. I assumed my Mom would be out doing her weekly shopping and was thankful that Grandma hadn't gone with her.

"Hey, Grandma. It is good to hear your voice. I know I promised I would try to stay in touch with you, things have just been crazy for me lately."

"I heard all about Joseph making an idiot out of himself in front of that mob girl, and that he had to go to Philly all alone. So proud of you baby girl that you stuck to your guns and didn't go with him. Your mother spent the day tippling and ironing though. Except she tippled a little too much and burned your Dad's favorite shirt. You should have smelt it, it was awful!" Grandma said with a laugh. "I don't know what she was thinking trying to iron his wool sweater. Frank poured all the liquor down the drain after that. She's been cranky ever since."

I had to hold back the laugh that was desperate to come out. I remember the last time Mom gave up tippling. I was just grateful I could still have sugar, especially with Ranger out of town.

"Grandma, listen, the reason I called is I have a skip I'm looking for and his name seems really familiar to me. Have you heard of Justin Papuri?"

"Oh yes…that's Cindy Mancini's son. She's married to Todd Mancini, but her first husband was Justin's dad. Todd adopted Justin when he was eight, but they didn't get along well so when he was 18, he went back to Papuri," Grandma explained. Now I remembered him. He was a freshman when I was a senior and he was a real troublemaker already.

"I saw him out with his mom just yesterday. I bet if you checked at her house you'll find him," Grandma added.

Cindy and Todd Mancini lived two streets over from my parents in the Burg, so if Grandma was right, Justin should be easy to find. "Thanks Grandma! I knew you would have the scoop."

"You're welcome Baby Granddaughter. Now listen, I know you and Helen aren't really speaking much these days, but I sure would love it if you would come over on Christmas for dinner. Valerie, Albert and the girls are going to be at Albert's mother's house and your Mom is real upset that she is going to have an empty house. I know your Dad would be real happy if you were here."

I had to sigh. It was Christmas and even though we had had a pretty big falling out, I couldn't see not spending the day with my family. So I relented, "Ok, Grandma. I'll come. But Ranger is coming with me. It is our first Christmas as a couple and there is no way I'm not spending it with him."

"I'll do my best to make sure your Mother behaves. And I'll talk to Frank about it too," Grandma answered excitedly.

"Ok, Grandma. I'll see you in a few days, thanks for your help. Bye."

I hoped I hadn't made a huge mistake for agreeing to that, but regardless, I would be with Ranger. If Mom couldn't behave, we would just leave. With that out of the way, I rounded up Zip and we headed over to Prescott St. to the Mancini house to find Papuri.

We pulled the SUV up in front of the Mancini house and talked about how we would handle it. I told Zip it might be best if I did the talking, since his mother would know who I was. Agreeing to that, we hopped out of the SUV, well…I hopped, and headed up to the front door. I knocked on the door and just our luck, Papuri answered. I started talking as Zip moved toward the back of him to be ready to secure him.

The moment the words "bond enforcement agent" came out of my mouth, time sped up. I have no idea how it happened; all I remember is Papuri lunging at me and then instantly pain was radiating from my shoulder. I hit my knees and turned my head in time to see Papuri being thrown down the front steps and Zip dropping with his knee in his back and securing his hands in cuffs.

It turns out that Papuri had a kitchen knife in his hand that neither Zip nor I had noticed. Talk about not being aware of your surroundings. Cindy Mancini had come out the front door after hearing the scuffle and dialed 911 seeing Zip on top of her son and blood on her porch. She didn't take the time to notice it was my blood on the porch, not her son's.

Carl and Big Dog arrived quickly and loaded up Papuri in the squad car. We spent about 30 minutes giving our statements and then we were allowed to leave. Carl had promised to get the body receipt to Connie for me so I wouldn't have to go into the station. Zip was so apologetic to me and offered to take me to the hospital to get my shoulder looked at. I reassured him that it wasn't his fault and quickly declined the hospital, telling him I just needed a band-aid and that Bobby could handle it.

We got stuck in traffic for another hour trying to make it back to Haywood. There had been a huge accident blocking our access to Haywood, and we had no alternate route. I was beginning to feel a little light queasy but didn't want to tell Zip knowing it would make him feel bad. It hadn't really bled a lot as I had pressure on it, but I hadn't eaten since breakfast so I think that elevated the nausea.

When we finally got through the traffic mess, Zip helped me out of the SUV and got me to Bobby quickly. The whole time he was muttering that Ranger was going to kill him. I held back the giggle that was threatening to come out. While I knew Ranger wouldn't kill him, I didn't think a third world country would be out of the question.

Bobby made quick work of patching me up. He even gave me a cookie while he was working which helped immensely with the nausea. I told him I was heading home for the weekend and that Ranger would be back on Monday, so that I would see him then.

My shoulder was sore, but nothing I didn't expect after being cut. However, by Saturday afternoon I really wasn't feeling well. I decided an early bedtime was just the ticket for me so I cleaned up and headed to bed. My stitches were really read and puffy, so I added some antibiotic ointment, covered it and headed to bed.

I woke up late Sunday afternoon with a combination of sweat and shivers wracking my body. I figured I had an infection and that I needed to get some help. My legs felt very weak under me as I headed to the living room searching for my cell phone. I dug through my bag and found it dead. Of course…just my luck. I hadn't had a landline put in because let's face it, who needs one with a cell phone? Then I thought, it sure would come in handy right about now.

I plugged in my cell and headed to the bathroom to answer nature's call, giving it a little time to get enough power for me to call for help. I was feeling extremely wobbly on my way back to the kitchen for my phone; I had to brace myself on the wall as I walked. I was just a few steps from the counter where my phone sat, when my legs gave out and darkness claimed me.

**TBC…**

_Author's Note: I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. I am pretty sure she could develop an infection that quickly, especially considering the amount of bacteria a kitchen knife could hold and the fact that she didn't bleed a lot to allow it to clean out. Forgive me if I'm wrong. Please review and let me know what you think. Thank you! _


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. Darn it!**

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: Thanks so much to those of you who offer feedback and reviews. It really does give me a boost to continue on with the story. I'm going to write this part from Ranger's point of view. I'd love feedback to know if I capture him well. Thank you!**

_Previously:_

_I plugged in my cell and headed to the bathroom to answer nature's call, giving it a little time to get enough power for me to call for help. I was feeling extremely wobbly on my way back to the kitchen for my phone; I had to brace myself on the wall as I walked. I was just a few steps from the counter where my phone sat, when my legs gave out and darkness claimed me._

Ch. 10

**Ranger's POV**

God, I couldn't wait to get back to Trenton! My time in Miami had been very productive but I really missed my Babe. My Babe. It felt so good to know she was finally, really mine.

I had really wanted her to go with me, but she was right. I wouldn't have been as productive with her there. Without the distraction, it allowed me to get enough work done that I wouldn't need to come back for several months and it also allowed me time with Julie. Steph was right about that too. Julie really lit up when she saw me.

We talked about Stephanie and that we were in a relationship now. Julie seemed genuinely happy about that. She made me promise to bring her with me the next time. When I dropped her off last night, Julie hugged me tight and told me she loved me. I nearly melted. I never thought I would have the relationship I do with Julie, especially after giving up my rights to her when she was so little. But after Scrog…I wanted it and so did she. Rachel allowed it and seems to be okay that we continue to grow closer. Rachel even went as far as to ask about Stephanie. I think the fact that my babe saved Julie's life will keep Rachel eternally grateful and I have no doubt she will allow Steph to be a part of Julie's life as our relationship develops.

I decided I couldn't spend one more night away from Steph, so I caught an earlier flight back to Newark. I wasn't supposed to be back in Trenton until tomorrow, but I've had a bad feeling all day, and I just need the comfort of seeing her and holding her and knowing she's ok to help ground me. She hasn't been answering her cell all day, with it going straight to voicemail. I'm sure she just forgot to charge it again, but Bobby told me about the incident with the skip on Friday afternoon so I would just feel better if I could hold her. I'm going to be meeting Zip on the mats every morning for a month for that one.

I arrived at Steph's apartment around 6 p.m. From the parking lot it didn't look like any lights were on, but her car was in the lot and the hood was cold. When I talked to Bobby earlier he said he wanted to get by to check on her but ended up needed on a takedown and didn't get a chance. He also confirmed that he hadn't heard from her either. I suppose it is possible she went to bed early, storing up energy for me to deplete when I got home. I love that I can surprise her by coming home early.

I headed up the stairs, let my self into her apartment and froze. Steph was in the middle of the floor between the hallway and the kitchen, wearing nothing but my shirt and her panties. "Babe!"

I rushed to her side and noticed right away that her body was on fire. The cut must have gotten infected. I wasted no time scooping her up and rushing out of the apartment to get her to the hospital as fast as possible. The cool air outside would help her and I wasn't risking waiting for an ambulance.

I haven't felt this level of panic in a long time, probably not since the Scrog and Con Stiva incidents. I placed Steph in the passenger seat and rushed to the driver's side. As I flew through the streets of Trenton I called RangeMan. Bobby was on his way to the hospital to meet me and he was sending someone to Steph's apartment to lock up.

I got her into the ER, where they asked me to wait outside. I know I could have convinced them to let me stay, but the area she was in was small and I didn't want to waste valuable time fighting or be in the way when they could be checking her out.

Bobby arrived just as the doctor was coming out to fill me in. The doctor mentioned that she was dehydrated and that she had an infection from her wound. He said she was very lucky that I arrived when I did. Much longer with her fever spiked like it was could have led to a seizure or worse, plus a much longer hospital stay, which in Steph's mind was ranked up there with the worst things possible too. They cleaned up the wound, attached an IV for fluids and antibiotics, but said they would like to keep there for at least 24 hours observation. I could just imagine how well that was going to go over when she woke up.

With a little persuasion, they agreed to move her to a private room for her time there, and I was able to go in to see her. After about 30 minutes, she slowly opened her eyes. She turned her head and greeted me with a smile and a, "Hey Batman".

I returned her greeting with a "Babe" and a tight smile. But what I was really thinking was "You scared the crap out of me! I'm so glad you are ok. If I hadn't come home early…" But I stopped myself from going too far with that. I didn't want to think about what would have happened if I hadn't come home early.

Obviously sensing the tension I had about the whole situation, she reached up with her good arm to cup my face and said, "Hey, I'm okay. Just a little infection. No sweat, Batman." And then she grinned at me. I couldn't believe how relaxed she was about all of this. They must have given her some pain meds on top of everything else. "I'm just so glad you are home."

"Me too, Babe. Me too," I said to her as I climbed into bed to hold her in my arms. I was trying to be careful of her injured shoulder as I asked, "Am I hurting you?" I didn't want to make her uncomfortable but I couldn't wait another minute to hold her.

"Mmmm, no. This is perfect," she answered as she melted into my chest. I kissed her slowly, trying with everything I had to show her how much I love her and at the same time not let the kiss go too far. But I had been away from her for over a week, and my resolve was slipping. I barely managed to pull back from the passionate kisses she was returning. I tucked her head under my chin and held her close, finally allowing myself to relax and realize that she was indeed ok.

"How long do I have to stay here?" she asked with a yawn.

"They want to watch you until at least tomorrow Babe, but I promise you I'll break you out as soon as they'll let me," I answered. I figured I would let the doctor elaborate on the infection and dehydration.

"As long as you are with me, I don't care," she said. Ok, now I definitely know she is on something. My Babe hates hospitals.

Stephanie drifted off to sleep in my arms, and I relaxed back into the bed and held her. It took me a while to fall asleep because it felt so good just to be able to hold her as she slept again. I tried not to dwell on what could have happened and just be relieved that I got to her early.

**Stephanie's POV**

I slowly came awake and realized two things. The first was that I was in the hospital. But before I could get too upset about that fact, the second thing I realized was that I had two muscular arms wrapped around me holding me tight. Mmmm…Batman's home.

"Morning, Babe."

"Morning, Carlos," I responded and felt Ranger's arms grip me tighter. I loved the reaction he had to me using his given name.

"How are you feeling?" Ranger asked me with a hint of worry still in his voice.

"Much better," I answered. And it was true. I didn't feel shaky and I could tell my fever had broken. I did have a dull throbbing in my shoulder, but knew it would go away with some Tylenol as long as I didn't over use it. I felt a little weak, probably from being dehydrated and the lasting effects of the infection but it wasn't anything some rest and the rest of my antibiotics wouldn't fix. "When do you think you'll be able to break me out of here?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll go round up a doctor and see what we can find out. I'm ready to get you home where I can hold you with a little more room in the bed," Ranger answered as he unwrapped himself from around my body, stood up and stretched. He must be so stiff from holding me all night.

Ranger barked with laughter and said, "Stiff all over Babe" as he went to find a doctor.

I shouted after him, "That's not what I meant!"

A few hours later, after my last bag of fluids and last dose of antibiotics had been pushed through my IV, with a prescription for additional antibiotics and an appointment for a follow up, I was on my way home. Of course, Ranger had to promise that Bobby would continue to monitor me, watching for any further signs of infection and pain.

Ranger and I spent the entire afternoon cuddled together in bed. I wasn't quite ready for sex yet, as I still felt weak and Ranger was worried about my hydration. But he did hold me all afternoon and evening long. God, I had missed him so much, and not just because of the sex. I missed being in his arms and talking to him. I missed kissing him, and ok…I missed the sex. But how could you not miss the sex with Ranger? I hoped we wouldn't have to wait too long, because lying next to him in bed made it nearly impossible to resist.

As we lay in bed together that night, in Ranger's apartment on seven, we talked about our plans for Christmas Day. I told him about promising my Grandma we would go to my parent's house and even though he seemed nervous about being around Grandma he seemed equally relieved that Valerie and her brood wouldn't be there. I assured him that I would protect him from Grandma and he rewarded my promise with more toe curling kisses leaving us both breathless.

I asked why he wasn't going to visit him family for Christmas and he explained that they were visiting his oldest sister, Elena in Vermont, but that they would be back in a few days and wanted us to spend New Years Eve with them. They usually have a huge party with his extended family in attendance and this would be the first year in quite a few years that he would be able to attend. I nervously agreed. I figured if he could put up with Grandma, I could handle meeting his family.

Gulp!

Christmas morning I awoke to the wonderful smell of homemade cinnamon rolls. I padded out to the kitchen to see for myself that I wasn't dreaming the wonderful smell. Ranger told me it was a family tradition and an allowance he always made for himself, conditions permitting, to have them on Christmas morning. Ranger explained that Ella had prepared them for him yesterday before heading out of town to see her family.

"Babe, I have to man the monitors for a few hours today. We run a bare-bones staff on Christmas, and we are splitting the time between all of the core team members. So how about we open presents now and I promise I'll be ready to leave for your parent's house by 1:30. We have to be there by 2, right?

"That works for me. Who is watching the monitors with you?" I asked.

"No one. The businesses are usually pretty slow on Christmas, so I can handle the monitors solo," he explained.

"What if I joined you? Would that be ok?" I asked.

"Of course it would be ok, Babe. Anytime spent with you is more than ok with me," he responded with a gentle kiss.

"Ok, you first," I said as I hurried into the living room to get his present from under the tree. He hadn't put one up, but Ella and I did it while he was in Miami as a surprise. He seemed happy that we made the effort, and I was glad we had done it. It helped to give his space a more lived-in feeling.

I was so nervous about his gift. What do you give the man who has everything? So, in an effort to be romantic, I had pictures of myself done for him. He doesn't have any pictures hanging up in his apartment, but I hoped that would change.

I have never been so nervous in my life. You see they weren't just your standard portraits they were boudoir photos. I was lying on a bed with my right arm raised above my head, my wild curls spread across the pillow. I had very little makeup on, only a coat of mascara and lip-gloss to make my lips shiny. There was a black silk sheet strategically draped over my body with a lot of skin was exposed. Nothing too private was exposed, but I felt incredibly sexy in the photo. It was done in black and white, except for my eyes, really accentuating the blue. I had it framed in a chunky black frame. I thought it had turned out really well. I only hoped he liked it.

We sat down on the couch together for him to open his gift. As he opened it, I held my breath. He sat motionless for a few moments after he had removed all of the wrapping paper and then he looked at me.

"God you are gorgeous Babe," he said a little breathless. I released the breath I was still holding, so happy that he liked it. "This has to be the best present I have ever received."

Ranger took my face in his hands and kissed me. He laid me back on the couch, his body on top of mine as he placed kisses across my jaw, behind my ear and down my neck dragging moans from me as he went.

We separated temporarily for him to relieve me of the t-shirt I was wearing. We went back to kissing and his hands were roaming all over my body. He slowly removed my panties, me lifting my hips to aid in his effort. I quickly relieved him of the silk boxers he was wearing and he moved until his length was positioned at my opening. He looked at me, searching my face to see if I was okay enough for him to proceed. I guess he saw what he was looking because he moved his mouth to my breast, taking my aching nipple into his mouth just as he entered my hot, wet core.

I gasped from the feeling of him inside of me again. He moved his hips slowly, taking his time to lavish my breasts with kisses giving equal time to both. I moved my ankles to wrap around his waist and shifted my hips upward trying desperately to increase the speed in which he was moving.

Not wanting to torture me any longer he began to move slightly faster, he bit down on my nipple just as his thumb maneuvered between our bodies to press down on my clit sending me into outer space. He slowed his movements again, allowing me to come down from my first orgasm, but before I reached Earth, he quickly sped up again. My nails on my good arm were digging into his back as he moved his mouth back to mine and whispered against my lips, "Cum with me, Babe."

That was all it took to send me flying as he thrust into me one more time and released into me. Ranger repositioned us so we could lie together, our limbs still somewhat tangled, slowly kissing each other. Ranger moved his hand from my hip up to cup my face, lifting my chin so I was looking at him. He looked so deeply into my eyes I swear we could see each other's soul, and he whispered, "Merry Christmas Babe."

I smiled at him, and kissed him one more time on the lips and said, "Merry Christmas, Carlos". I reluctantly sat up and told Ranger, "If I'm going to watch monitors with you, I need to jump in the shower really quick."

He smirked at me and said, "Don't you want your present, Babe?"

I looked at him and with a satisfied smile asked, "Wasn't that it?"

I was rewarded with a full out laugh as he shook his head and said, "No. That was a thank you for my present."

I turned toward him to wait for my present. He handed me a fairly small wrapped box, which I quickly tore into. Hey, just because I'm in my thirties doesn't mean I can't appreciate a present. I opened the blue velvet box and just stared at it for a moment. Inside this box was the most beautiful necklace I've ever seen. The silver necklace was slightly longer than a chocker and was adorned with alternating diamonds and sapphires.

"Carlos, this is beautiful," I said with tears in my eyes.

"Not even close to as beautiful as you, Babe," he replied with a kiss. The kiss slowly started to progress again, but thankfully he had the strength to pull back. "If I don't get downstairs pretty soon, Tank is going to come up here looking for me."

"Ok, I'll go ahead and shower and get ready. I'll be down shortly to join you," I said. "Thank you so much for this necklace, it really is gorgeous. I'm sure it cost you a fortune."

"No price, Babe. Not on anything. Not now, not ever. I love you."

"I love you too, Carlos. I'll be down in a bit."

I started to get up from the couch and was wobbly and felt light-headed. Ranger sat me back down and went and got be a bottle of water. He encouraged me to drink it all before trying to stand again. He brought me my antibiotic pill and some Tylenol. I had refused any stronger pain meds because they make me loopy. He told me to take my time and to keep the phone close to me in case I needed him before he headed downstairs.

I finished off the water and slowly stood from the couch. I was still feeling a little weak, so I grabbed another bottle of water and a package of peanut butter crackers and headed to the bathroom to take my time getting ready. I knew this was going to be a long day.

**TBC…**

_Author's Note: I'm guessing in real life it would probably take Stephanie longer to recover from an infection. But this is fiction, so I put it on a quicker time table. After all, it is Christmas and there was no way I was leaving her in the hospital over Christmas. And hurt shoulder and weak from infection or not…she just couldn't resist sex with Ranger. Who could? Thank you for allowing my creative license to not cloud your thoughts on how fast that part moved. Amy_


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. Darn it!**

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: Thanks again to Cristi0819 for being my Beta. I so appreciate your time and efforts reviewing my chapters for me. You help keep me from looking like an idiot! **

_Previously: I finished off the water and slowly stood from the couch. I was still feeling a little weak, so I grabbed another bottle of water and a package of peanut butter crackers and headed to the bathroom to take my time getting ready. I knew this was going to be a long day._

Ch. 11

I took my time getting ready to go to my parents and sit with Ranger watching the monitors. I was still feeling pretty weak, and I'm sure making love earlier hadn't helped the situation, but it was oh so worth it.

I was thankful that Ranger's shower had a seat in it and I took advantage of it as my legs still felt unsteady under me. I had made sure to cover my stitches on my shoulder to avoid getting them wet and potentially causing more infection.

I had to take several breaks over the course of fixing my hair and makeup as it was exhausting me to be standing for long periods of time. I finally made it downstairs about two hours later. Ranger greeted me with a full grin and a soft kiss. He and I talked about the upcoming dinner with my parents. I explained my nerves and he encouraged me not to let my mother get to me. He also made me promise again to protect him from my Grandma Mazur. I always find it so funny that Ranger, the bad-ass mercenary who isn't afraid of anything gets nervous around my Grandma.

At 1:15, he headed upstairs to get ready and I manned the monitors until Les arrived at 1:30. "Hey, Beautiful," Les greeted me, planting a quick kiss on my cheek.

"Hey, Les! Merry Christmas!" I said smiling at him. "No big plans tonight?"

"Naw, I went out with Cindy last night and we spent the morning together." Cindy is a legal secretary for Ralston Banks, the RangeMan attorney. She and Lester met when Ralston was handling the negotiations for RangeMan to purchase another apartment building in Trenton. They immediately hit it off and have been seeing each other for about a month now.

"You two really seem to be hitting it off, huh Les? Are you serious about her?" I asked Lester.

"As serious as we can be right now. She just had a long-term relationship go belly up and I've never really been a relationship kind of guy. So, we're working on it, taking it a day at a time and just enjoying being together."

"I'm really happy for you, Les." Just then the elevator announced Ranger's arrival back on 5 and I went to join him so we could head to my parents. As I walked away, I yelled over my shoulder to Lester, "Wish me luck!"

"Luck" he yelled just as the elevator doors were closing. I took a deep breath, sighed and leaned into Ranger to absorb some of his infamous strength.

Ranger leaned his head down and kissed my forehead then reassured me, "It is all going to be ok, Babe". I hoped he was right.

The ride to my parent's house was made in a comfortable silence. When we arrived, my mother and grandmother held their normal spots right on the front porch watching and waiting. Ranger came around the car and helped me out. I hadn't eaten since my snack before my shower so my legs were started to get a little shaky again. With his arm around my waist, he guided me up the steps to greet my family.

"Baby Granddaughter, we heard you were sick. I wasn't sure you were going to make it over today. I'm so glad it wasn't too serious." Grandma Mazur said as she hugged me. I was a little thrown off, as we typically aren't a very affectionate family, but I recovered quickly and returned the hug.

"Thanks, Grandma. I'm ok. Just need to rest and keep hydrated and I'll be better in no time," I said to her, stealing a glance at my mother. Judging by the look on her face, I wasn't sure Ranger and I were going to be here long.

"Come inside Stephanie. The neighbors are watching and who knows what they'll think if we continue to stand out here," my mother said.

I took a deep breath and let a sigh slip from my lips. I went into the living room with Ranger behind me, to greet my Dad.

"Hi, Daddy. Merry Christmas."

"Hello, Pumpkin," he returned, standing up to give me a kiss on the cheek. "How are you feeling? Your Grandmother mentioned you were in the hospital yesterday?"

"Yes, Daddy, but I'm ok. I just need to take it easy. You remember Carlos right," I said re-introducing Ranger to my Dad.

"Yes, of course. Welcome," Dad said extending his hand to shake Ranger's.

"Thank you for having me, Sir. Merry Christmas," Ranger said looking my Dad square in the eye.

"You can call me Frank." He said. I was a little shocked. He had never asked Joe to call him Frank. I couldn't help but smile.

My Grandma called us all to the table to eat, so I took Ranger's hand and led him to the dining room and motioned that he should sit in the chair beside me. My Dad sat in his normal spot at the head of the table. Ranger was to his left and I sat next to Ranger. My mother was on my left at the other end of the table and Grandma was across from us.

"I have the best view in the house," Grandma said winking at Ranger. His hand tightened around my thigh and I couldn't help but smile. So far, Grandma hadn't tried to pinch anything on Ranger, but I suppose the night was still young. I offered pleading eyes to her in hopes that she would behave but all she did was wink at me.

As we passed the dishes around, Grandma immediately jumped in telling me stories of things that occurred in the past few weeks that she thought I might have missed. I heard a lot of it from Connie and Lula, but there were a few things she surprised me with.

"Angie Morelli started dating." Grandma said with a wide grin. I choked on the piece of turkey I had put into my mouth, unable to fathom Joe's mom dating.

"Yep, she and Sal Darelis, the butcher, were out at Rossini's the other night and then Donna Barcelli saw them kissing on her front porch," Grandma continued on.

"Good for her." I added to the conversation.

My mother, who had been taking deep breaths the entire meal chimed in. "Good for her? Good for her? Stephanie, she is nearly 60, she shouldn't be dating. What will her poor children think?" It looked as though she might hyperventilate.

"I suppose they will be happy for her. I wouldn't want you or Daddy to be alone as long as she has been." I said hoping she saw my point. She didn't.

"I could never move on from your father. And I would hope he would respect me enough not to move on to some piece of scum if I died before he did." Mom said.

"Scum? Sal is a good Catholic, certainly better than I am. And his wife died nearly 20 years ago after she fought illness for years, and he never once gave up on her. He stayed with her to the end. Why isn't he good enough for Angie?" I asked my mother, truly baffled.

Thrown off by my defense of Sal, my mother quickly changed the subject to a topic that was easier for her to harp on…me. "And you, what are you doing still bounty hunting? From what I hear you nearly got yourself killed. Carmella Gioglio's daughter doesn't end up in the hospital two days before Christmas. Gladys Silva's daughter doesn't run around with thugs all day chasing down men twice her size getting herself stabbed and shot at."

That was it. That set me off. "Mother…do you ever listen to yourself? First, you call Sal scum and say he isn't worthy of Angie Morelli. Then you start comparing me to all the neighbor's daughters for the millionth time and then you call Ranger and his men thugs. Do you realize that Ranger saved my life for probably the 20th time since I've known him when he found me two days ago? If he hadn't gotten to my apartment when he did, I could have had a seizure from the high temperature I had." I paused for a breath and my mother started in again.

"If you weren't hanging around him and his band of thugs, you wouldn't need saving, Stephanie. Don't you realize that? Why can't you get a good job that doesn't put you in constant danger? Or better yet, settle down with Joseph and have a family and be a good wife?"

I jumped in to stop her, as I was not having _this_ conversation with her again. "Mom, I love Carlos and he loves me. I don't want to be just a good wife and I may never want children. And if you can't accept my relationship with Carlos then I shouldn't be here," I said as I sat my napkin down on the table ready to stand and leave.

"There she goes again," my mother snarked. "Maggie Villamos doesn't run out on her mother every time she tries to have a conversation with her. Anabelle Gisepei doesn't snap at her mother when she offers her advice on her life."

"Margaret Francesco's mother doesn't constantly harp at her because she works at the bar on Stockton. Madison Vranken's mother doesn't constantly tell her what a disappointment she is because she is a lesbian and hasn't produced grandchildren. Angela Franelli's mother doesn't call her best friend a thug because he works as a bouncer and wears black. Their mother's support them. Why can't you be like their mothers?" I asked trying to get my mother to hear how she sounds.

"How dare you speak to me that way," Mom said, shock written across her face. "I only offer advice because I love you and know what is best for you. I am constantly worried about you. You obviously can't make important decisions like these on your own. Look at how you are leading your life. Every time the phone rings or someone knocks on the door I'm sure it is going to be bad news about you. You are going to end up dead before you are 40." My mother crossed herself after she said it and her face was red from the temper that was rushing through her.

I took a deep breath to calm myself before I said something I could never take back. "Mom, you and I will obviously never agree on what is best for me. Maybe it is best if I remove myself from your life so you won't have to worry about what trouble I'm getting into."

"That isn't what I mean, Stephanie. I just want you to see reason and settle down," Mom said trying to rectify the situation.

"I'm not saying I don't want to be a part of your life anymore, Mom, but until you can accept me for who I am, I can't keep doing this," I said, hearing the resigned tone of my own voice. "Daddy, Grandma," I said looking to each of them, "call me whenever you like. Thank you for supporting me and I wish today had turned out better. I love you. Merry Christmas. Carlos and I are leaving now."

Ranger stood and took my hand, leading me out the front door. He helped me into the Turbo and walked around to the driver's side. Once he was inside, he leaned over the console, wrapped his arms around my and said, "Proud of you Babe" in my ear. I couldn't contain the tears and began crying. This was certainly not how I hoped Christmas would go.

I felt the adrenaline leaving my body as Ranger drove through the streets of Trenton back toward Haywood. My body began to shake and I felt dizzy. I hadn't gotten to actually eat much of our meal. Ranger zipped into his designated parking spot and was opening my door before I could blink. He scooped me up and headed for the elevator.

"I can walk you know," I said as I cuddled my face into his neck. For once, I was actually really enjoying his take-charge attitude.

"I know you can, Babe, but you were looking a little shaky and I know you haven't eaten much today. I'm not chancing you falling down. Besides, I like the feel of you in my arms," he said as he stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for 7. I'm sure Les noticed our early return and I would get questioned about it later, but for now, I was just glad to be able to spend what was left of Christmas alone with Ranger.

He brought me into his apartment and sat me on the couch as he headed to the kitchen to prepare something for us to eat. Ella must have filled his fridge when she prepped the cinnamon rolls, because Ranger came back with a tray filled with meats and cheeses, two water bottles each, crackers and some apple slices. Without a word, Ranger popped _It's A Wonderful Life_ into the DVD player and then cuddled up next to me on the couch. With a kiss on my forehead and a whispered Merry Christmas, we sat in each other's arms watching the movie and enjoying our dinner.

Even with all the stress of the day, I wouldn't have wanted my to spend Christmas night any other way.

**TBC…**

_Author's Note: Well, what did you think? Please review and let me know. How will New Year's go with Ranger's family? Will there be drama like at the Plum's or will it be peaceful? Help me decide. Please!_


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. Darn it!**

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: So sorry for the delay in posting. December is kicking my butt. I'm going to try to post a few more times before the end of the year. Hope you'll stick with me. Thanks again to Cristi0819 for being my Beta. I so appreciate your time and efforts reviewing my chapters for me. You help keep me from looking like an idiot! **

_Previously:_

_He brought me into his apartment and sat me on the couch as he headed to the kitchen to prepare something for us to eat. Ella must have filled his fridge when she prepped the cinnamon rolls, because Ranger came back with a tray filled with meats and cheeses, two water bottles each, crackers and some apple slices. Without a word, Ranger popped It's A Wonderful Life into the DVD player and then cuddled up next to me on the couch. With a kiss on my forehead and a whispered Merry Christmas, we sat in each other's arms watching the movie and enjoying our dinner._

_Even with all the stress of the day, I wouldn't have wanted my to spend Christmas night any other way._

Ch. 12

The week between Christmas and New Years Eve went by rather quickly. Luckily for Zip, he was on vacation. I suppose it was lucky for me too, because instead of Ranger spending his mornings in the gym teaching Zip a lesson about protecting me, he spent them in bed with me coming up with new and different ways to show me how much he loved me.

And we spent them in my bed. We had had a talk Christmas night about my apartment. I told him, staying on seven felt like we never really got away from work. The guys could come up and knock if they needed him. They were always calling for minor things that they could handle on their own, but instead were pulling him downstairs for them. And trust me when I say, they had horrible timing.

I told him I was a little nervous about living together completely, but that I would like it very much if he brought over more of his things and spent more time with me in my apartment. He agreed very quickly. He said he wanted to be with me and if my apartment was where I wanted to live he would happily live there with me. He even started referring to it as our apartment. And surprisingly enough, it didn't cause me to break out in hives. I guess knowing he could go back to seven if he wanted comforted me, but to hear him call the apartment ours so easily, it just gave me tingles…good tingles.

I was still healing some from the knife wound and infection. I was almost completely finished with the antibiotics and the stitches had come out. Bobby had been really quiet the few times we had gone out together. I was still on mostly light duty, but Ranger had me going to a few new client meetings and had sent Bobby with me, since he was, of course, my partner.

I hadn't really seen Bobby handle many new client meetings before, so I chalked it up to him being nervous until New Year's Eve morning. I had taken the day off and slept in, well, sort of. Ranger woke me up around 5 and had made love to me before he headed out for his day. The things that man could do to me. I fell back asleep for a few hours and had just gotten up and fixed myself a cup of coffee when there was a knock on my door. I was shocked to open the door and find Bobby standing there.

"Hey, Bomber. I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he said a little sheepishly.

"Of course not, Bobby. Come on in. Want some coffee? I have cherry or brown cinnamon and sugar pop tarts if you're interested."

"I'll take some coffee if it isn't any trouble," he said.

I gave him a speculative look. "What's wrong, Bobby? You've been acting funny since Christmas. Is everything ok?"

He was fidgeting. I swear! I didn't get it on camera or anything, but Bobby was fidgeting. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was wrong. "Spill it!" I was getting a little testy but he was starting to make me nervous.

"Jesus Bomber, I'm so sorry!" he blurted out.

"Sorry? Sorry for what? What's happened? Is Ranger okay?"

"What? Oh, no, Ranger's fine. I mean I'm sorry about you."

Ok, I have to admit, I think I'm a pretty smart person, but I was so lost. I couldn't help the "huh?" that came out.

"I should have taken better care of that knife wound. I didn't clean it out enough when you came in. It didn't look that bad, and I wasn't paying close enough attention when you said kitchen knife, and I know that I should have really cleaned it thoroughly and I didn't. And then I didn't even check on you. If Ranger hadn't come home early…Bomber, I'm just…I'm so sorry." He rambled, who knew?

"Bobby. I'm fine! Look at me! I'm fine." I smiled at him trying to reassure him. "If I had let Zip take me to the hospital in the first place instead of being so stubborn, it would have been cleaned up faster and I probably wouldn't have gotten sick. But I let my hatred of hospitals win and I ended up with a little infection. No biggie. And besides, Ranger did come home early. There is absolutely nothing for you to feel sorry about." I stared at him, imploring him to see that I was serious and didn't hold my getting sick against him. "Ranger isn't blaming you is he?"

"No. I've sparred with him a few times hoping it would make my guilt go away, but he hasn't even gone all out with me. He hasn't said anything either, so I don't think he blames me," he reassured me.

"Well, I don't either. But…if you don't cut out this not talking much business, I'm gonna request a new partner," I said with a wink. "Lester drives me nuts with the flirting and he won't give me anything personal, but geez, at least he'll talk to me."

"No! I mean, I'll talk more. I promise," Bobby said. It made me smile. He really did still want to be my partner.

"It's settled then. So, what are you doing for New Years Eve?" I asked.

"Working monitors. But New Years Day my parents are coming in for a visit. It should be fun." I could hear the sarcasm in his voice.

"Well, Ranger is working monitors tomorrow, so if it isn't too much trouble, I'd love to meet your parents, especially your Mom." I said to Bobby hesitantly. I know he has issues with his Dad and I didn't want to possibly make that worse.

"Really?" He asked me. "That would be great. My Mom has been asking to meet you. I've already told her a lot about you. Don't worry. I left out the funeral home incident." He said with a smile.

"Oh, great!" I couldn't help but laugh. "So, lunch then?" I asked.

"Yep, we were planning on Pino's. Mom loves their meatball subs."

"A woman after my own heart. Noon?"

"Yep. We can go together or I'll meet you there?"

"Lets meet there. I'm not sure where I'll be yet. We've been staying here, but since Ranger has to work early and we will most likely get back from Newark late, we might just be on seven."

"That works. See you tomorrow. And Steph, thanks for forgiving me." He said as he headed for the door.

"No forgiving necessary," I said. After Bobby left, I only had about two hours to get ready. So I rushed through my shower, shaving, exfoliating and moisturizing. I wanted to have plenty of time to make sure my hair looked ok.

I used this miracle cream I had gotten from Mr. Alexander and thankfully my curls were laying very well. I couldn't have asked for a better hair day. And if I ever needed one, this was it. I went light on my makeup, just some blue eye shadow to help my eyes pop and lip gloss. I only went with two coats of mascara. I probably could have put the whole tube on but I didn't want to look too scared.

Ranger said it was very casual, but I still wanted to look nice, so I chose my dark denim skinny jeans, a cream colored sweater that fit my curves and fell just below my butt. I wore my black FMP boots that went up to about mid-calf. I felt pretty. When Ranger came home to get me, he was already dressed to go. He still kept some things on seven for just in case. He looked delicious! He was wearing dark denim jeans that were relaxed fit, but clung very nicely to his firm ass. He also had a nice, dark blue button-up shirt on. It took every ounce of my self-control not to strip him naked and spend the rest of the day in bed.

I could tell he knew what I was thinking and judging by the darkening of his eyes, he was thinking the same thing. "You look gorgeous, Babe. Maybe we should just stay home?"

I laughed out loud before saying, "Oh no, mister! I've been waiting a long time to meet your family, we're going. But hold those thoughts for when we get home."

"Home. I love hearing you say that," he said as he strode over to me, took me in his arms and kissed me thoroughly. I was beginning to rethink meeting his family and agreeing to climbing into bed and staying there when he pulled away, took my hand and led me out the door.

The drive to Newark took about two hours because of traffic. On the way, Ranger told me a little bit more about his family. Elena, his oldest sister who lives in Vermont with her husband, John and two small children is working today and won't be there.

His older brother, the second oldest in the family, Juan and his girlfriend Courtney would be there. Juan was in construction and Courtney was his girlfriend of the past month and a half. But since he hadn't officially dated anyone in more than five years, this seemed serious.

Next was Margarita, but they all called her Maggie. Maggie and her husband Saul both lived in Newark. Maggie was a teacher and Saul worked in public works for the city. They have four children, Veronica, Angelica, Mario and Gabriel, who everyone called Gabe. The kids were all teenagers, ranging from 19-13.

Next in line was Alicia. She worked in New York for an advertising company as the Executive Director. She was very successful and her husband, Tomas was in Public Relations for the same company. He was the Director of Client Services. They were able to work together because neither reported to the other. They didn't have or want any children. Ranger wasn't sure if they would make it in. They often liked to celebrate New Years at home.

Celia was Ranger's sister, just a year older than him. She was a doctor at a hospital in Princeton. She worked as an OBGYN, and had two small children of her own. She and her husband, Charles, were going through a separation. Ranger explained that Charles had been laid off a few years ago and had trouble finding work. He had worked in accounting and the CEO of the company had stolen a lot of their client's money. Even though it wasn't his fault, it didn't look good on his resume. So he had been staying home with their girls, Cassidy (6) and Chelsey (4) and he very much resented being a stay at home Dad. So he left. Ranger said Celia was tough and was handling it well, but I had my doubts.

Ranger, Carlos to his family, was of course the baby. He was a self proclaimed Momma's boy. Ok, maybe not self-proclaimed, but Ella had told me so and even though he denied it, I believed Ella. Ranger's parents, Ricardo Sr. and Maria were both retired. Ricardo Sr. had been in the Army before he started his family and then when Elena was young he left the service. He worked for an Engineering firm in Newark for 30 years following that and has since retired. Maria worked in the school system as a secretary to a principal at a local elementary school. She retired after 25 years. She had gone to work when Carlos was 6 and had entered Kindergarten. Ranger said she claimed she needed something outside of the house to keep her busy, but he thought she really wanted to be able to keep tabs on her kids.

We pulled up to the Manoso house at around 5:30. I was nervous and Ranger knew it. He leaned over the console and took my chin in his hand to turn me to face him. He looked deeply into my eyes until I swear he was staring at my soul and told me in a low voice, "There is absolutely nothing to be nervous about. I love you and I know they will love you." Then he kissed me. It wasn't a passionate, lets go find a room kiss, instead it was a gentle and loving kiss, leaving no doubt in my mind how much he really did love me. He pulled back from the kiss, made eye contact again, kissed the tip of my nose and then said, "Come on. Let's go before all the food is gone."

He knew that would do it. My stomach growled and I was opening the door before he could come around to meet me. I swear I could smell the amazing food as soon as I stepped out of the car.

We were just walking up the stairs when who I could only assume was Maria opened the door with an excited, "Carlos!" She quickly wrapped him into a hug and then turned to me and said, "Oh, and you must be Stephanie. Carlos has described you to a T. You truly do have the most beautiful blue eyes." Then she hugged me. I was slightly flustered but only for a second. I can't even recall the last time my own mother hugged me and here Maria was hugging me within seconds of meeting me. I returned the hug and her arms tightened around me.

As soon as she let me go, she took my hand and Carlos's hand and led us inside yelling, "Carlos and his beautiful Stephanie are here." I turned to look at Ranger and he just smiled at me.

We were greeted by his father and most of his siblings. Elena of course wasn't there and Alicia and her husband weren't there either. Celia's little girls ran to Ranger yelling, "Uncle Carlos" and he swooped them both up into a huge bear hug. They giggled and he laughed. It really was a beautiful sight.

We moved into the living room and there sat an older lady. I had a feeling I knew who she was from a conversation I had had with Ranger during the whole Scrog ordeal. Ranger turned to me and said, "Babe, this is my Abuela Rosa" as he led me closer to her. I pulled what little Spanish I knew out and said, "Hola, Abuela Rosa" as I leaned in to hug her. She said something back to me in Spanish but all I caught was "Bonita" and was pretty sure that meant pretty.

Carlos leaned into me and said "She said it was a pleasure to meet and you and that I have great taste as you have to be the prettiest thing she has ever seen." I turned to his Abuela and said, "Gracias."

We hadn't even sat down yet, when I was whisked away into the kitchen by Maggie and Carlos was surrounded by his older nieces and nephews. I went into the kitchen reluctantly, whispering to Maggie that I really wasn't much of a cook. She just laughed and said "Momma doesn't want your help. She wants the gossip about you and Carlos."

Well, at least they were honest. I was offered a stool at the breakfast bar and handed a glass of wine before the inquisition began. It was nothing compared to my family's line of questioning. They asked how I brought him out of his shell, if I enjoyed working at RangeMan, if we had had a good time in Hawaii. They didn't push on marriage, babies or harp on us living together. It was wonderful. As I was talking about wonderful and supportive Carlos was I noticed a look in Celia's eye. She wasn't having an easy time with her separation. I made a mental note to get some one on one time with her later to talk.

We all sat around the table together and shared the wonderful meal that Maria had prepared. I couldn't tell you half of what I ate, but I can tell you that it was all fantastic. I know I must have been a little vocal with my appreciation of the food because all of the men at the table, even his teenage nephews gave me looks and seemed to shift in their seats quite a bit. I know my face must have been blood red, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't contain it.

After dinner, the teenage nieces and nephews left to go down the street for a party with their friends. They were all such great kids and I was a little disappointed I hadn't gotten to know them better yet, but knew there would be time for that. When Carlos left to walk them down the block, Celia and I went into the kitchen to get more wine. I decided it was time to talk. I just hoped I wasn't stepping over any boundaries.

**TBC…**

_Author's Note: Please take the time to review. I would love to know what you are thinking. Thanks!_


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Not all mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. Darn it!**

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: Thanks again to Cristi0819 for being my Beta. I so appreciate your time and efforts reviewing my chapters for me. You help keep me from looking like an idiot! **

_Previously:_

_After dinner, the teenage nieces and nephews left to go down the street for a party of their friends. They were all such great kids, and I was a little disappointed I hadn't gotten to know them better yet, but knew there would be time for that. When Carlos left to walk them down the block, Celia and I went into the kitchen to get more wine. I decided it was time to talk. I just hoped I wasn't stepping over any boundaries._

Ch. 13

"More wine?" Celia asked me as she poured herself a glass. She had a very tired look in her eyes.

"Please," I said with a smile. "I hope I'm not stepping over any boundaries, but Carlos told me a little bit about your situation, are you doing ok?"

Celia took in a deep shaky breath. I could tell she was desperately trying to hold it together. She glanced at me with tear filled eyes and whispered, "It is just really hard with the holidays. He didn't even want the girls for Christmas or New Years. They just keep asking about him, what am I supposed to say?" She turned away from me and I could tell the tears were either really close to falling or already falling.

I cautiously stepped closer and put my arms around her. "I'm not a mother, so I don't really know what you say to them to help them other than just constantly remind them how much you love them." I could feel her body shaking in my arms and I felt so badly for her.

"I think he is seeing someone else. I think he has been for a while. He would take Cass to school and Chelsey to preschool but he wouldn't ever be home when I'd call. I do all the grocery shopping, so I know he wasn't at the market. When I asked him about it, he said he was tired of playing Mr. Mom and he left. He said he was going to his parents' house, but I don't think he is there," she said with a shaky voice.

"Well, if that is the case, then he is a fool. You are a beautiful and intelligent woman and if he doesn't see that, you deserve better." I said in a firm, reassuring voice. At least I hope it was reassuring. "Think about it, he must be so insecure. Look at you. You are gorgeous. If I looked half as good as you with two children I would be thrilled. And you are a successful doctor. He must be an incredibly insecure man to not step up and help raise his children."

She was nodding while I talked and I could see her blush slightly when I mentioned how beautiful she is. "It will all be ok. Maybe not right away, but if you are half as strong as your brother, I know you'll be just fine."

It was about that time I felt that Carlos was back. I looked over my shoulder and saw him staring at us. I discretely shook my head no, telling him it wasn't a good time for him to come in the kitchen. He nodded slightly and turned to go back toward the living room. A few moments later Celia straightened, went to the sink to splash a little water on her face and took a big gulp of her wine. With a strong smile on her face, she turned and said, "Thank you. I just needed a small reminder that no matter what, I'm a Manoso and we are strong. Now let's re-join the party."

With our glasses refilled, we headed back to the living room to the sounds of laughter. Cassidy and Chelsey were doing a little dance and everyone else was sitting around watching them. Celia leaned toward me and said, "They are in ballet. They have a recital in May usually. You should come."

"I'd love to." I answered whole-heartedly.

Carlos gestured for me to join him on the couch and I did. He wrapped his arm around me, kissed me behind the ear and whispered, "Thanks, Babe. I figured she was having a harder time than she let on." I only nodded. I would tell him the rest later, but now wasn't the time to bring it up. Instead we watched his nieces entertain us. Carlos would laugh when they wiggled their bottoms and I loved to hear him laugh.

The rest of the evening was spent playing a variety of games, talking and just enjoying each other's company. I even got a few "Little Carlos" stories. Juan seemed to enjoy telling those stories the most. Juan was taller than Carlos, but he was definitely a little flabbier. Carlos gave him a hard time about not making it to the gym very often and I even caught Courtney giggling a few times. Juan took it all in gest. I was happy to see a family that seemed to genuinely care about each other and get along so well.

Around 11, Cassidy and Chelsey fell asleep. Chelsey had been leaning on me and Cassidy was on the other end of the sofa. Carlos carried Cassidy off upstairs and then came back for Chelsey. I followed him upstairs this time. He had laid them in a room at the end of the hall with two twin beds. I watched as he tucked Chelsey in and leaned over to kiss her head. The paternal gesture made me smile. He joined me in the hallway and gently closed the door. The house had 4 bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs. It was bigger than my parents' house but in truth, not by much. Since we were upstairs, Carlos showed me around. He took me into the room he had shared with Juan when he was younger.

There were pictures on the wall of him as a child and I could see why he was teased when he was younger. He did have a more feminine look. He was definitely short and somewhat slim and with his longer hair, he was cute. Nothing at all like the masculine, handsome man he has grown into, well, nothing except for his amazing smile. That really hasn't changed much. There was a double bed in this room. When Juan had graduated high school and moved out, Carlos had gotten a bigger bed. He said he only had it about six months before he was sent to live with his Abuela in Miami after he got caught stealing a car.

He led me over to the bed and sat down, pulling me onto his lap. He pushed my hair off my neck and gently kissed me in the sweet spot where my neck and shoulder meet. I couldn't contain the shiver and felt the heat begin to grow in my lower belly. He had his hand resting in between my legs and he was gently running his hand up and down my thigh.

I stood from his lap and turned to straddle him. I kissed him hungrily. He looked and smelled so amazing and I was on a natural high from all the love his family had shown me. And I wanted him. Oh boy, did I want him. The next thing I knew I was on my back and he was pushing me further onto the bed and kissing me with such passion. I thought I might explode right there. Just then, there was a knock on the door. Carlos stilled quickly and I fought to contain my giggle. I felt like a teenager who just got caught making out by her father.

From outside the door Maggie said, "Carlos, can you come back downstairs? Mario just called and some boy is harassing Veronica. If I let Saul go down the street there will be bloodshed."

With a sigh and one more quick kiss, Carlos whispered that he would be back shortly, hopped up, adjusted himself and was out the door. I quickly went to the bathroom to fix my hair and splash a little cold water on my face. I didn't want everyone to know what we were doing up here when I went back downstairs. Of course, I'm sure they could assume, but I didn't want it written all over my face.

Carlos was back with the kids about 20 minutes later, with just 10 minutes to spare before midnight. Maria had passed out champagne for the adults and had sparkling cider for her teenage grandchildren to enjoy. Maggie hugged Veronica and asked if she was ok when she came inside. She nodded her head and went into her Dad's arms. Maggie kissed Mario on the forehead and gave him a quick hug before wrapping her arms around her other two children and rejoining the family in the living room. I loved how loving Carlos's family was.

We were all gathered around the television as the count down for midnight began. As soon as the clock struck midnight, Carlos looked at me, put his hand on my neck and up into my hair and pulled me closer to kiss me. He whispered "Happy New Year" after he pulled back from the kiss. I could see the love shining in his eyes.

We only stayed a few more minutes and then we headed back home. Carlos had to be on shift at 8 and even with no traffic, it would take at least an hour to get home. With hugs and promises to return soon, we left and headed back to Trenton. Carlos drove home in his zone and we were there rather quickly.

As soon as we entered the apartment on seven, Carlos had me in his arms kissing me passionately. Before I knew it we were both naked and in the middle of the bed. Carlos slowly entered me staring me straight in the eye with each inch. It was different. It had been different lately, but this was even more different. I could feel him pouring his love into me. I have never felt so incredibly loved as I did at that very moment.

We made love for what seemed like days but in reality was only hours. After countless orgasms, we laid together as a pile of limbs, Carlos gently rubbing his hand up and down my back. He turned to me and lifted my chin from his chest to look him in the eye. And with his eyes staring straight into mine he said, "I have never loved anyone as much as I love you, Stephanie." There was no doubt in my mind that he meant it. Looking back at him I said, "And I have never loved anyone as much as I love you Carlos."

He kissed me again and then shifted so that he was once again above me entering me slowly. I could feel his love spreading through my entire body with every movement. I could make love to him every second of every day. I truly loved this man. We climaxed together and after adjusting our bodies so that I was tucked tightly into his side and the blanket was pulled up over us, he quickly fell asleep. I wasn't far behind, but just before I drifted off, I couldn't help but think how perfect my life had become.

I should have known better than to even think it.

**TBC…**

_Author's Note: Uh oh…what do you think Stephanie means by that? I appreciate any and all feedback. Updates may come a little less frequently with the holidays, but I hope to have the story wrapped up soon._


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. Darn it!**

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

_Previously:_

_He kissed me again and then shifted so that he was once again above me entering me slowly. I could feel his love spreading through my entire body with every movement. I could make love to him every second of every day. I truly loved this man. We climaxed together and after adjusting our bodies so that I was tucked tightly into his side and the blanket was pulled up over us, he quickly fell asleep. I wasn't far behind, but just before I drifted off, I couldn't help but think how perfect my life had become. _

_I should have known better than to even think it._

Ch. 14

I woke up in a state of sated bliss on New Year's Day. Carlos had been downstairs manning the monitors since 8 and it was currently 9:30. Thankfully, I had plenty of time that morning to get ready at a leisurely pace because lets face it, after making love to Carlos until nearly dawn, there was no way I was going to be doing anything quickly.

I took a nice, long, hot shower allowing the water to relax my muscles and spent extra time shaving and exfoliating. After my shower I put lotion on my entire body with this yummy smelling lotion from Victoria's Secret that Ella must have picked up. I worked on my makeup so that I looked good without looking like I was trying. From what Bobby had told me about his Mom, Judy, I wanted her to like me. I tamed my curls with my magic spray from Mr. Alexander's and deemed myself presentable before heading to the closet.

I didn't have a lot of clothes left on seven since we hadn't been staying there since Carlos officially moved in with me. I did have a nice, long denim skirt and a blue sweater that helped enhance my cleavage without showing too much. With one last glance in the mirror I was ready to go with plenty of time to head down to five and say bye to Carlos before heading to Pino's.

Poor Carlos, he looked so bored when I stepped into the Comm. Room. He turned to glance at me and gave me a sweet smile and a "Babe."

"Hey, everything under control today?" I asked.

"Everything is quiet, just the way it should be," he responded.

"Need me to pick anything up from Pino's on the way home?" I wasn't sure how long his shift was but I was hoping he would be home at a decent hour.

"I don't think so, I'll grab something for dinner and meet you at home around 6?"

"Sounds great, Carlos. I'll see you later." And with a quick kiss I was out the door.

I arrived at Pino's at 11:50. I noticed Bobby's truck was already in the parking lot so I went ahead inside. I glanced around the tables as I entered and quickly noticed Bobby at the table in the back where the Merry Men like to sit when dining in. I also noticed that he wasn't alone. I smiled at the cops I knew as I passed by on my way to the table. As I approached, Bobby stood and put his hand out to me.

"Steph, this is my Mom, Judy and my Dad, Robert," he instantly introduced me after placing a quick kiss on my cheek.

"Mr. and Mrs. Brown, it is so very nice to meet you," I greeted them both as I shook their hands.

"Please, call me Judy," Bobby's Mom said. I noticed Mr. Brown didn't extend the offer for me to call him by his first name. Knowing he is ex-military, I would show respect and keep calling him Mr. Brown until he requested otherwise.

"I went ahead and ordered you a meatball sub, Steph. I hope that's ok," Bobby said.

"Of course! You know me, I'm easy." I said. Mr. Brown gave me a glare. I thought for a second and realized how it might have sounded, so I quickly looked at Bobby and noticed he was trying to hide his grin. I looked back to his parents and said, "I just meant I really like food. As long as it isn't rabbit food I'll eat it. What did you guys order?"

"Bobby and I ordered meatball subs as well, dear," Judy said. Before she could say anything else Mr. Brown chimed in with, "And I ordered" then cleared his throat, "rabbit food."

Crappity crap crap! I was certainly not scoring points with his Dad.

Judy came to my rescue. "I've never understood how these military men survived on what they eat. I need a little bit of fat and grease in my diet," she said with a smile. Judy Brown was a gorgeous woman. She had to be nearly sixty and at what I would guess is about five foot, five inches tall, she couldn'tweigh more than 120 pounds. She didn't appear to need to survive on rabbit food that was for sure.

"Maybe that was why Bobby here couldn't cut it in the military, not enough discipline to maintain the diet." Mr. Brown said with some disdain in his voice.

I could sense Bobby tensing up beside me and I couldn't hold back my opinion. I didn't like my friends being attacked. "Oh, I don't know Mr. Brown. Bobby seems to have just as much discipline as any military man I know. He just knows how to appreciate a good meal when it is available to him." I said with as much sweetness as I could muster and smiled at Mr. Brown. Of course, my opinion was received with a glare that could rival any of the Merry Men's. Good thing I was used to that already.

Thankfully the food arrived. I know I moaned with the first bite. I couldn't help it. The first bite was always the best. After opening my eyes I noticed Judy and Mr. Brown staring at me, both with their food halfway to their mouths. I grinned and said, "Sorry. Like I said, I really enjoy food."

Bobby chuckled next to me. I suppose the best part of me joining him for lunch was the heat would be mostly off him. We spent the next hour eating and talking about some of my exploits as a bounty hunter. Judy was very warm and told me stories of Bobby when he was younger. For instance, I found out that Bobby was Valedictorian of his high school class, and had excelled in college before joining the army. She told me about his Senior Prom and how nervous he was about going with Sasha Jameson from down the street. Apparently, he had had a crush on her since Kindergarten and it took him nearly the whole year to work up the nerve to ask her to the dance.

Judy then told Bobby that Sasha was living in Princeton working at the hospital as an anesthesiologist. She also mentioned that Sasha was single. I spared a glance at Bobby when she said that and noticed that he seemed to perk up a little at that comment. I wonder if Celia knew Sasha? I would have to do some fishing.

Mr. Brown got a couple more digs in at Bobby's expense but I was quick to shut them down with stories of how well he was doing at RangeMan and how valued he was and how lucky I was to have him as a partner. Of course, all of it was true. The fact that it made his Dad eat a little crow was only a benefit.

We saw them outside and watched as they got into their Lexus and drove away. Bobby turned to me and wrapped me in a big hug.

"Thanks so much, Bomber. I haven't gotten through a lunch with my family that easily since…I don't know when. You are the best!"

"I only spoke the truth Bobby. I really am lucky that you are my partner."

We parted ways and I headed back to my apartment. I couldn't wait for Carlos to get home so we could continue celebrating the New Year together.

_**Three weeks later…**_

Things had been going perfectly for me. Apparently, too perfectly. It was nearing the end of January and the weather outside was dreadful. Half of RangeMan had the stomach flu and I hadn't been feeling that great myself. I'd had nausea, but it sort of came and went throughout the day and I hadn't had a fever, so I was being extra cautious about washing my hands and wiping down my desk and phones as often as possible. I was fighting the flu with everything I had.

Bobby and I had just come in after delivering a pretty high-bond skip to TPD and I was feeling great. I hadn't felt sick since before breakfast. I noticed a grim look on Carlos's face and when he caught my eye I swear he sighed. He nodded his head toward his office as if asking me to join him so I headed in after him. He closed the door behind me and wrapped his arms around me giving me a searing kiss.

He put his forehead to mine and took a deep breath and said, "Babe. We need to talk."

I instantly felt my heart rate increase. 'We need to talk' are never words you want to hear when you are in a relationship. He took my hand and led me to the couch to sit down. Then he said the words I had been dreading since we got together.

"I got a call." My heart sunk to my stomach and I thought I was going to lose my lunch. I took a deep breath, trying to remain in control of my emotions.

"Ok. What does that mean exactly?"

"It means I have to go in the wind, Babe. I'm not sure when I'll be back." I could feel the tears building behind my eyes and I blinked furiously to keep them at bay.

"When do you leave?"

"Four in the morning. But listen Babe, I want you to know this is it. After this mission, I'm done. My contract is up in two weeks and I'm not re-signing. I want to build a life with you." And then he kissed me again. His kiss held so much promise and love in it. He slowly lowered me down on the couch and was kissing me with such passion as his hand was moving up my shirt to caress my breast. His lips moved from my mouth across my jaw, nibbling my ear and then headed down my neck to that sweet spot that makes fire shoot straight to my doo-dah.

Unfortunately we both seemed to forget we were in the office because just as I had removed his shirt and mine was on its way over my head there was a quick knock on the door and then it flew open with Lester coming in saying, "Hey Bossman…oh shit. Sorry Beautiful!"

Carlos had jumped up at the knock and as I was struggling to get my shirt back on I fell off the couch onto the floor. I know my face had to be as red as a fire engine for as hot as it felt. Carlos quickly shoved Lester out the door and followed him closing it behind him. I could hear him shouting on the other side, giving Lester a hard time for not waiting for permission to enter. I managed to untangle my arms stuck within my shirt and get myself redressed.

I sat myself back on the couch and waited for Carlos. A few minutes later he came in, grabbed my hand and led me straight to the elevator and down to the garage to my car. He helped me in to the passenger side and got in the driver's side. He flew out of the garage and headed straight for our apartment. I guess we were offline.

The second we entered the apartment, Carlos lifted me and I was wrapped around his body and we were kissing each other with everything we had. Soon we were in our bed, naked and Carlos was kissing every inch of my body. He made slow, sensual love to me. It was gentle and loving and there was no doubt how much we cared about each other. I lost count of the number of times I orgasmed, and when we reached our climax together at the end I was nearly brought to tears.

Carlos and I laid their together just holding onto each other for what felt like hours. Then, his voice barely a whisper, "I have never had a reason to come home like I do now, Babe."

Tears dripped down my face before I could stop them. "Promise me, Carlos. Promise me you will come home safe."

"I have never made a promise to you that I can't keep, Stephanie. I promise you, I'll come home." I felt his body tense slightly as he said it. I know he was thinking that he hoped this wouldn't be the first time he broke a promise to me. I was thinking the same thing.

We spent the rest of the night making love. Just before falling asleep from pure exhaustion, Carlos told me how much he loved me and that he would be back as soon as humanly possible. I fell asleep to him placing sweet, gentle kisses on my head.

I awoke around 9 the next morning, Carlos's side of the bed cold. I felt horrible because I had had every intention of getting up with him at 4 to see him off. I took his pillow into my arms, inhaled his scent and couldn't hold back the tears. I cried for what must have been an hour before I finally dragged myself out of bed determined to stay strong for him. He would be home, and we would be together again. Forever.

It had been a week since Carlos left. I tried my best to keep myself busy. Staying busy at work wasn't a problem at all. I was working out in the gym in the morning, doing research, picking up skips in the afternoon with Bobby, assisting Tank with some of the paperwork and I had even gone on few potential client meetings and helped to sign two new accounts. Work was a good distraction. Half the time I forgot to eat lunch until almost two in the afternoon.

I could usually tell when I needed to eat because I would get a little nauseous. The flu bug was still floating around and some of the guys were out with it. I had avoided the fever, achy body, chills part of it, but occasionally I was throwing up. It didn't make a lot of sense to me, but I was grateful that I didn't have all the symptoms. Nighttime was harder for me. I missed Carlos not being home for dinner. But thankfully, Lula helped to fill the void. We hang out in either her apartment or mine. We took turns buying dinner since neither of us was very good in the kitchen. We would either watch a movie or talk. Most often we talked.

She would tell me about her crazy days and I would tell her about mine. We talked about everything. I told her about all my adventures from when the Merry Men were trying out to be my partner. I even told her about DeSalvo and how creepy he was. She told me about her and Tank. They were talking a lot more. Believe it or not, they still hadn't had sex yet, but their relationship was definitely improving. She apologized for tricking him with the 'engagement' and he apologized for the cats. They agreed to take things slowly. Also, he was getting rid of some of the cats, but he had to keep his two favorites, which I thought was sweet. And she agreed to get allergy shots. I was so proud of them both. Guess Carlos and I weren't the only ones growing up.

Lula also pointed out that I don't seem to call Carlos, Ranger much anymore. I hadn't given it much thought before that but I guess since Christmas I was really feeling like he wasn't Ranger much to me anymore. You know… "My life doesn't lend itself to relationships, the kind of love that doesn't come with a ring but a condom would come in handy, blah blah blah." That isn't who he is anymore. Just like I'm not the same bumbling Bombshell anymore. I'm taking my training and my job seriously and we most definitely are in a relationship.

Another week had passed and Carlos was still in the wind. Bobby and I hadn't been chasing many skips as I still was feeling under the weather. I seemed to be getting sick more and more throughout the day, but it was totally random. I would be feeling fine then all of a sudden I would feel completely exhausted and I would throw up.

Plus, with Carlos gone the paperwork was piling up. I had helped to sign two more accounts, totaling up to four new accounts in the two weeks since he left and Tank was needed in the field more. Hector and Brett were handling the installations with their team, which left us a little short in other areas. Since Tank hated paperwork, a fact that he whined about frequently, I offered to pick up the slack. I did have a business degree, after all. I was sure I could handle it.

Also, the core team decided to hire an assistant medic. Bobby couldn't always rush to the hospital if there was a situation and he was out with me. The assistant medic would have multiple roles, just like Bobby, so I agreed it was a good hire. Plus, the new medic was a female. Her name was Alexandra, but everyone calls her Lexie. I helped hire her. Celia had recommended her actually. Celia and I had gotten together during the weekend because she just needed someone to talk to. Maria and Ricardo kept the girls for her and we went out to lunch.

We talked about Charles and that she had moved forward with a divorce. She was devastated, but he definitely had a girl on the side and hadn't even had contact with his kids since before Christmas, and it was already February. After an hour of talking about her failed marriage, she begged me to change the subject. I mentioned that we needed another medic at RangeMan and she recommended Lexie. She worked in the ER at Princeton Hospital with Celia and had just gone through a nasty break up. She has family in Trenton and was looking to move closer. So, I convinced the guys to interview her.

Lexie was perfect from the moment she walked in the door. She didn't flinch at Tank or even Cal. She smiled, shook their hands with a firm handshake and got down to business. She told us her qualifications, including the fact that she grew up with three older brothers, all of which are Marines. She confessed that even though they were incredibly protective of her, they also gave her enough grief growing up to make her tough. Like I said, she was perfect.

She also had a good nose for research. Come on, what Jersey woman doesn't lean a bit to the nosey side? So when Bobby wasn't training her with medic stuff, I was training her on our research programs. It also helped me out a great deal, so I could continue to keep up with the paperwork and work with the new accounts. The paperwork was exhausting!

So other than missing Carlos terribly, everything seemed to be going well, that is until Valentine's Day.

**TBC…**

_Author's Note: Ok…Valentine's Day. What could go wrong? Thoughts? Ideas? Guesses? Please review! This will be my last update until after Christmas. I hope everyone has a great holiday!_


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Any characters you don't recognize are mine. All the rest…not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. **

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

_Previously:_

_She also had a good nose for research. Come on, what Jersey woman doesn't lean a bit to the nosey side? So when Bobby wasn't training her with medic stuff, I was training her on our research programs. It also helped me out a great deal, so I could continue to keep up with the paperwork and work with the new accounts. The paperwork was exhausting!_

_So other than missing Carlos terribly, everything seemed to be going well, that is until Valentine's Day._

Ch. 15

Carlos had been gone for a little more than three weeks and we hadn't had any word from him yet. Tank has assured me that that is very normal, but it doesn't stop the worry. And it also doesn't help that today is Valentine's Day. This will be the first holiday we won't be together. And while it is definitely a minor holiday it is a romantic one. I had started formulating plans for it in early January and even had some lingerie ordered to wear special for him tonight. But he isn't here. And Tank assures me, unfortunately, that he definitely won't be home tonight. Despite my wishful thinking and hoping that he will be home, I've accepted it and made other plans.

I have a hot date! Ok, really it is just me and Lexie going to dinner, but I know it will be fun. Even though she has only worked at RangeMan for a little over a week, she is quickly becoming a best friend. Our personalities are very similar and we really get along well. Since she had a pretty recent breakup she didn't want to have anything resembling a date, but she also didn't want to be at home tonight. She's been staying at her parent's house until she finds the right apartment for her. She would have stayed on four, but unfortunately it is full. Anyways, apparently her parents are the real lovey-dovey type and she didn't want to be home with them tonight of all nights. So, we're going out.

I've been feeling better, but still have the occasional bout of nausea. My biggest thing is I've just been exhausted lately. I thought it was being stuck behind a desk all the time trying to help keep up with the paperwork, but I'm getting a little nervous that that might not be it. You see, I haven't had my period in a while. The last time I remember something resembling it was about a week after New Year's and even then it was really light spotting for about a day or two and then nothing else. I'm afraid I might know what is wrong with me, which is of course why I'm avoiding finding out for sure. If I don't know for sure, I can continue to deny it.

Lexie and I are going out to dinner at Marcelli's. It is an Italian restaurant located just outside of Trenton. It isn't as fancy as Rossini's so we are hoping there won't be quite as many couples hanging around. We promised if either of us got too depressed we would head back to my place and watch a scary movie and gorge ourselves on Ben & Jerry's. My freezer is stocked just in case.

Lexie called me from my parking lot and I headed down to meet her. I was wearing black jeans that if I'm being perfectly honest are fitting a little bit snug, a red wrap shirt with a plunging neck line that I swear make my breasts look huge and red FMPs. I'm ignoring these signs too. As I always say, deny deny deny!

At Marcelli's, I ordered a pasta with a light marinara sauce. The alfredo sounded so good to me, but I was afraid the creamy sauce wouldn't agree with me since I was still fighting the "sickness". Lexie ordered a manicotti that looked and smelled delicious. We had laughed and shared stories about growing up. I thought I had it bad with an overbearing mom and a perfect sister, but they are nothing compared to her brothers. I thought the Merry Men were over protective, but some of the things her brothers pulled to scare off her dates were hilarious. I told her to keep it between her and I, we didn't want to give the Merry Men any ideas.

The night had been perfect until we were leaving. She and I had just stood to leave when I turned around and bumped into…Morelli. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what he was doing there. I noticed Terri Gilman headed toward the restroom and I guessed they had made up.

"Hey Cupcake, you're looking as beautiful as ever."

"Thanks Joe, you look nice too. Sorry, my friend and I were just leaving." I turned to try to leave but he grabbed my arm to keep me there.

"What, no Manoso? He get tired of you already? I knew once he got you in his bed and got what he wanted out of you that he would be gone." I could hear the anger in his voice. I tried my hardest to remain calm.

"No, Joe. We are still together. He is out of town on…business. He couldn't be home tonight so my friend and I are keeping each other company. If you'll excuse us, we were leaving." I tried again to walk away but his grip on me tightened.

"Damn it, Cupcake, I haven't seen you in months and you can't even stop and talk to me for just a few minutes. What, has Manoso poisoned you against me?" The more Joe talked, the louder he got and the tighter his grip on my arm was. It was really starting to piss me off. He had no right to talk to me like this, and he was starting to hurt my arm.

"No, Joe. But you are doing a pretty good job of making me not want to talk to you ever again. I was trying to show a little respect for Terri. That's who you are here with, right? If I recall she didn't take it too well the last time you 'talked' to me."

He loosened his grip slightly so I continued. "Maybe you should go ahead to your table and enjoy your evening. I would like to leave now." Just then a waiter came out carrying a tray with something that smelled horrific. I think it was sausage and something else, but the smell over took me and before I could control it I threw up all over Joe. There were gasps all throughout the restaurant and a few people got up quickly and left. I guess they didn't handle vomit well.

I was so embarrassed and I tried to apologize, but before I could say anything Joe yelled, "Jesus, Cupcake! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Thankfully, he finally let me go and I said "sorry" quickly and turned and ran from the restaurant as fast as my FMPs would take me. Lexie was right behind me and we were quickly in her car and speeding out of the parking lot. She didn't say anything for the first five minutes of the drive but finally asked, "Are you ok, Steph?"

I started crying and said, "No. I don't think so." She asked if I wanted her to stop and pick up some ginger ale or something. I said yes and that I probably needed to grab a pregnancy test too. If she was shocked, she didn't show it. She just nodded her head and pulled into the first drugstore we came to. I can't remember if it was CVS or Walgreens. I went to get out and she said, "Let me. No sense fueling Burg gossip."

I closed my eyes to wait for her and before I knew it she was gently nudging me to wake me up so I could walk up to my apartment. She handed me the bag from the drugstore and I headed straight to the bathroom. I knew if I didn't take the test right then, I would chicken out.

I peed on the stick, capped it, set it on the counter and practically ran from the bathroom. The three minutes that were required for the results were enough to cause me to panic. Lexie grabbed me just as I was ready to flee the apartment. I guess she had heard about my tendency to run.

"It'll be ok, Steph. No matter what the test says, it will be ok," she tried to reassure me. I sure hoped she was right. Lexie handed me a glass of ginger ale to soothe my stomach while we waited. I focused on taking deep breaths and watched the time tick away on my wall clock.

It took about 10 minutes longer than the test required for me to get up the nerve to go look at the results. I walked into the bathroom, picked up the stick and immediately started crying. Two lines…crappity crap crap!

Lexie came in and helped me up off the bathroom floor and led me to the living room couch. I'm not sure how long I cried, but she just kept rubbing my back telling me it was going to be ok. When I finally got it under control I looked at her and asked, "How is this even possible? I'm on the pill."

"Well…it isn't 100 percent, you know that."

"I know, but I've been on it for years. Why would it just not work now?"

"I don't know, Steph. Have you been on any meds in the last couple months?"

I had to think about it. "No, not really. Oh, wait, I was on antibiotics for a while around Christmas when I got an infection from a knife wound courtesy of a skip."

I could see the wheels turning in Lexie's head. "What? What is it?"

"Steph, a lot of antibiotics lessen the protection birth control offers. They always recommend a backup method from the pill if you take antibiotics. Didn't they talk to you about that at the hospital?"

"No! They didn't even mention it!" I was wracking my brain trying to remember if it had been mentioned. I was certain no one said anything. I would have paid attention to something like that. Carlos would have paid attention to that. Oh my… "Carlos!" I started to feel light headed. What was Carlos going to think about this?

Lexie gently pushed my head down between my knees and took to reassuring me that everything would be fine. I sat up when I didn't feel like I was going to pass out any more and just looked at her. "What is Carlos going to think about me being pregnant? Do you know how long I waited for him to finally come around to just a relationship with me? And now a baby?" I couldn't think about it anymore. I didn't want to think about it anymore. I just cried until I fell asleep. Some Valentine's Day.

I woke up the morning after Valentine's Day alone in my apartment, holding the evidence in my hand that I wasn't truly alone. I was carrying Carlos's baby. And by all figuring, I was about 9 weeks pregnant and had most likely gotten pregnant on Christmas, or shortly there after. I was so afraid to tell anyone, I called Lexie immediately and swore her to secrecy. She promised, but told me I should call Celia. She was the best OBGYN on the East Coast and I needed to be sure, so I took her advice.

I called Celia and invited her to coffee that afternoon. She said she was working, but would love it if I came to the hospital and we could talk during her break, so I agreed. I spent some time getting ready and headed to Princeton. I met her in the cafeteria, she got a coffee and I grabbed water instead of coffee and we headed to an alcove to sit and chat. She told me how Charles had called her the day before and begged her to take him back. I guess his girlfriend had found a guy that actually had a job and dumped him. We laughed at the Karma of it all and then sat in silence for a minute. I told her I needed her help and begged her for doctor, patient privilege. She immediately agreed and I told her about the pregnancy test. She was beaming with excitement.

We went upstairs to one of the rooms and she did a test on me under a different name. I didn't want anyone to be able to track this and I was more than willing to pay cash. She did a quick pelvic and then an ultrasound. She would have done a blood test, but I begged her to wait. She said she would ultrasound first and if it confirmed it she would have to check blood for a variety of medical reasons that I tuned out.

She squirted the gel on my stomach, rolled the wand over me, and my life changed. There, on the screen, was my tiny little baby. Mine and Carlos's baby. I cried. I couldn't help it. Damn pregnancy hormones! Celia cried too. She said they were sympathy hormones, and I couldn't help but laugh. We laughed together about how the baby looked like a little peanut. She told me I needed to take prenatal vitamins. She said I could just get them over the counter, as they weren't that different from the prescribed vitamins. She also expressed worry over me continuing to be a bounty hunter. I knew I couldn't chase skips anymore, but had to figure out a way to get out of it without alerting the guys. Other than the few people who already knew, I wanted to tell Carlos before I told anyone else.

Celia promised to keep my secret from the family and told me I needed to come back in a month. She gave me the ultrasound pictures and did a quick blood draw to run the necessary medical tests and I was on my way. I sat in my car in the parking lot for a few minutes trying to gather my thoughts, but all I could continue to think was…I'm having a baby. Carlos's baby. I was a bundle of emotions and kept going back and forth between scared to death and elated the whole way back to Trenton.

_**Two months later…**_

So much has happened the last couple of months. Especially since Valentine's Day. As much as I tried, I couldn't deny that my flu symptoms weren't actually the flu. I mean, come on, how many people are nauseous for weeks with just the flu? I didn't have the body aches, the fever, not even a lot of vomiting, unless you count losing my dinner all over Joe Morelli! I think that was probably the furthest into denial I had been in in a while. Of course, Lexie and Celia quickly brought me out of denial and every time I looked at my ultrasound pictures that we securely tucked in my top drawer I was reminded of the tiny little peanut growing inside of me.

Keeping it from the Merry Men had been very difficult. I hated keeping secrets from the guys, especially Bobby. He was my partner. And I knew I should have told him, but I just couldn't. Aside from Lexie and Celia, the only other person I had told was Lula. And believe it or not, she hadn't told a soul, not even Tank.

She and Tank were working on their relationship. They had a "great" Valentine's Day together and Tank was now the proud owner of only two cats and Lula got allergy shots once a week. I was so happy for them.

Lexie had stayed with me for about a month after Valentine's Day. Apparently that night when she returned home, she walked in on her parents in the living room, "celebrating the holiday" and said there was no way she could keep living with them. With there still being no room on four, I offered her my spare room. I knew Carlos wouldn't be home for a while and it was great having the company. Plus, Lexie was an awesome cook! And I was trying desperately to eat healthier. It seemed as long as I was eating healthy food…ok, rabbit food damn it…the baby was happy and I wasn't throwing up. This was definitely Carlos's baby.

I had continued my training, and Lexie had even talked me into yoga. I hated it at first, but she told me it would help the further I got into the pregnancy and even with labor, so I continued. After a few weeks, I even started to like it. I kept running and told myself I would work in the gun range with the guys for as long as I thought it was safe, I didn't want to damage the baby's ears. Lexie always seemed to be in the gym when I was working on self-defense moves with the guys, keeping a sharp eye to make sure what they were doing with me wouldn't harm the baby. She only had to intervene and fake injury once to get them to stop.

Thankfully, no distractions had come up and Bobby and I had been spending a lot of time working on new clients. I had gotten a lead for a couple of new potentials through Mac Turnberry, a friend of my Dad's who I signed at the end of February for his car dealership. He had had a couple of vandalism incidents and some new cars had been destroyed, so he wanted RangeMan to monitor the lots and showroom. We caught the vandals within two days of the signed contract and he kept us on and referred just about every friend he had, which being from the Burg, was A LOT! It kept me busy on new client calls and in the office helping with the contracts and other paperwork.

Tank was extremely appreciative and said that Carlos's desk had never been so clean of paperwork, even when he was here full time. I guess I found a good niche for myself. Between all of that and my standard research, I was extremely busy. Too busy for skip chasing, thank goodness. It helped me to avoid explaining why I didn't want to.

Despite my rigorous workout schedule and healthy eating, my pants were starting to fit snug across the hips. I knew I would have to talk to Ella about maternity clothes soon, since I was approaching my fourth month. Celia even said I could find out the sex of the baby soon, but there was no way I was doing that without Carlos.

The best thing of all from the last two months… Carlos had made every check in and would be coming home soon. His mission was a success and he was being debriefed in D.C. and would be home at the end of the week. I hadn't even gotten to talk to him on the phone, because his communication was kept to the bare minimum on this mission. The only reason we even knew he was safe and sound was thanks to Tank's contacts. It was a Monday, and Carlos would be home Friday. The week couldn't go fast enough, and even though I was scared to death about telling him about the baby, I was so excited to see him, it made the worry go right out the window.

**TBC…**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Any characters you don't recognize are mine. All the rest…not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. **

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: The review section is having issues. I promise to respond to everyone that has reviewed as soon as it lets me! Thanks so much to those of you who review. I truly appreciate it!**

_Previously:_

_The best thing of all from the last two months… Carlos had made every check in and would be coming home soon. His mission was a success and he was being debriefed in D.C. and would be home at the end of the week. I hadn't even gotten to talk to him on the phone, because his communication was kept to the bare minimum on this mission. The only reason we even knew he was safe and sound was thanks to Tank's contacts. It was a Monday, and Carlos would be home Friday. The week couldn't go fast enough, and even though I was scared to death about telling him about the baby, I was so excited to see him, it made the worry go right out the window._

**Ch. 16**

This week had taken forever! I had been slammed at work with paperwork and client meetings. Tank had me checking on old clients as well as working with new clients. He claimed that I was more of a people person than he was, and that the clients responded well to me. I couldn't argue with him about the 'people person' thing, but I think he underestimates how well clients respond to him. RangeMan wouldn't be as successful as it is if it weren't for Tank and Carlos. I think he just wanted to be out chasing skips more. And, due to my current predicament, I was more than happy to deal with clients than chase skips.

It was Thursday afternoon, and I was taking off early. I had put in a ton of hours since Carlos left, trying to keep myself busy and I deserved an afternoon off. I was planning to go home, take a nice long bath, heat up a casserole that Lexie had helped me put together (yes, she was trying in vein to teach me how to cook and thankfully no fires yet), watch Ghostbusters, and turn in for an early night. Carlos would be home by noon tomorrow and I planned to greet him at the door wearing the lingerie I had purchased for Valentine's Day, ravage his body for hours on end and then, after I hopefully had him exhausted enough to keep him from throwing things, I would tell him about the baby.

The weather for the end of April was surprisingly beautiful. We had several weeks of rain, but for the last couple of days it had been gorgeous. I had been walking to work on the sunny days. I know, I never thought I would see the day either, but since the majority of my days were spent inside, I cherished the time spent outside. I had some suits in the apartment on seven so I could change if needed for client meetings, so I would arrive to work in workout clothes, workout with Lexie in the gym and then go to seven to shower and change. I would go back up to seven and change in to whatever casual clothes I had up there to head home and Ella would make sure my suits got clean. I love Ella! She often left sweets for me up there too and even though I wasn't really eating much sugar because my little peanut didn't seem to be too fond of it, I would take it home with me and share it with Lula. She loved Ella, too.

I arrived home shortly after noon. I decided before relaxing in the tub that I should clean up around the apartment first. I didn't want Carlos to come home to piles of laundry on the floor, dirty dishes in the sink and dust on every surface imaginable. Two hours later, the apartment looked wonderful. I had put one of the ultrasound pictures into an adorable frame Lexie and I picked up in the mall the week before that said, "Love at first sight" with little baby bottles and rattles along the outside. It was a white, porcelain frame so it worked no matter what sex the baby was. After the picture was in the frame, I tucked it back into my top dresser drawer with the other pictures for safe keeping and I would pull it out to show to Carlos when I explained to him that we were going to have a baby. As I was putting it away, I felt a distinct flutter in my belly. I was almost 20 weeks pregnant and Celia had told me it could happen any moment and I'm guessing this was it. Maybe my little peanut knew his Daddy would be home tomorrow and was excited too.

The apartment was as clean as it was going to get, and I was more than ready to relax in the tub. I looked everywhere for my phone so I could use the iPod feature on it while I was bathing. I needed a little music to help me unwind. After dumping my purse, checking my jacket from today and searching every available surface in the apartment, I racked my brain trying to recall where it could possibly be. Then I remembered setting it on the counter in the kitchen on seven. I had gotten a text from Lula and turned on the TV to see what she was talking about. After laughing at the news report regarding an old, mutual skip, I shut the TV off and left. I never went back to the kitchen to grab my phone. Damn it! I didn't want to possibly miss a call from Carlos tonight, so I headed back to RangeMan to grab it.

I was half way to RangeMan when I started getting a really weird feeling. My spidey senses were going crazy and it really had me nervous. I felt like I was being watched or followed but despite my best efforts to be aware of my surroundings, I didn't notice anyone. I had just walked past an alley when someone grabbed me from behind and put a cloth over my mouth. As I struggled to get free, my world went black.

**Carlos's POV**

I had tried to call Stephanie about a dozen times. Tank had told me she went home early for the day, so it didn't make any sense that she wasn't answering or calling me back. I missed her so badly and I just wanted to hear her voice. These past three months had been torture. I had a hard time focusing on this mission but was constantly reminding myself to be aware so I could keep my promise and make it home to Steph safely.

It was 7:30 p.m. and my flight from D.C. was scheduled to leave at 9 in the morning. If everything went according to plan, I would be in Steph's arms in our apartment by noon tomorrow. I couldn't wait to hold her. In fact, I was anxious. Couple that with the fact that she wasn't answering her damn phone, which was completely unlike her, and you could say my anxiousness was bordering on panic. I tried again and finally…

"Hello?"

That's not my Babe's voice. "Who is this?"

"Carlos, is that you? This is Ella."

"Ella? What are you doing with Stephanie's phone?"

"I was up in the apartment on seven bringing in some clean laundry that I had down on six with me and I heard the ringing from the kitchen and answered it. I'm sorry"

"Don't apologize. But, what is Steph's phone doing on seven? Is there a problem? Has she been staying there?"

"No, no. Everything is fine. She just comes up here to change clothes sometimes. She must have forgotten it before she went home earlier." Ella stated.

"Has anyone heard from her since she left?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. Would you like me to ring control and check?" Ella offered.

"Yeah, if you don't mind." I waited rather impatiently while Ella spoke with control. I could only hear her side of the conversation through the phone. If they hadn't heard from her, I was going to have Ella send someone to check on her. The last time no one heard from her I found her on the floor, passed out with a high fever. I wasn't taking any chances.

"I spoke with Lexie and no one has heard anything from Steph since she left at noon," Ella said when she came back on the phone. Lexie? Who the hell is Lexie?

"Where's Bobby. Can you send him to Steph's apartment and then tell him to call me right back?" I asked. I may have even sounded like I was begging, but I was worried. Something felt off, really off, and I didn't like it.

"Of course, Carlos. I will speak with him. He and Tank were on five when I was down there about 20 minutes ago. I'll give him Stephanie's phone as well."

"Thank you, Ella. I will be back in Trenton tomorrow, and I will see you soon."

"Travel safely, Carlos," she responded warmly. "I'm sure everything is fine with Stephanie." I hoped she was right.

_**An hour later…**_

'What the hell was taking Brown so long? Steph's apartment is right around the corner. It shouldn't be taking this long for him to check on Steph if everything was really ok.' I was thinking to myself right before my phone rang. 'Thank God!'

"Yo."

"Boss, its Brown. I can't find Bomber anywhere."

"What do you mean you can't find her?"

"I checked her apartment. It's spotless, no sign of struggle. Looks like she was getting ready for a bath, maybe? There are what seem to be two fresh towels on the counter in her bathroom. Looks like she was cleaning. A dust rag that is damp and smells like Pledge is on the top of her laundry basket. But she isn't here. Her purse is here, and her car is in the parking lot, so we have no way to track her. Lula hasn't heard from her and neither has Lexie."

"Who the hell is Lexie?" I know it wasn't important at the time, but she had been mentioned twice and I had no clue what she had to do with Stephanie and why my men and Ella seemed to know her.

"She is the new assistant medic we hired. She and Bomber have become best buds. She even lived with Steph for a while when she first started working with us." Well, that explained Lexie.

"And you have no idea where she could have gone? It isn't like her to not have her purse with her." I was getting desperate. "She wouldn't be at her parents' house would she?"

"No. Not a chance of that. She hasn't talked to her Mother since Christmas as far as any of us know. And her Dad and Grandma had lunch with her yesterday. Unless something was wrong, she wouldn't be with them again. I also called Celia and she said she wasn't getting together with Stephanie until next week."

She was hanging out with Celia? Really? I didn't think they would have enough in common to spend a great deal of time together, but I'm glad my family liked her and if they were hanging out, she must like them too, at least Celia. "Ok, Brown. Check all the usual spots; mall, Pino's, Tasty Pastry, Shorty's. Find her. Have Tank get me on the next flight that lands anywhere close to Trenton. And if there isn't one tonight, get me on the train."

_**Six hours later…**_

I was practically dead on my feet. I had been in debriefing for days upon days, and had once again been up all night, with no sleep in sight. How could I possibly sleep right now? We can't find Stephanie. My Babe hasn't been heard from in more than 13 hours and there isn't a sign of her anywhere.

Her phone was in my old apartment, her purse is in our new apartment, her car is in our apartment's parking lot and there is no Stephanie anywhere. Rex is still on the counter, and I know how much he means to her, so there is no way she would leave him if she wasn't planning on coming back. The guys said she hadn't had any stalkers or crazies after her the entire time I was away. She has spent her free time with Lula, Lexie, Celia or the Merry Men. In fact, she hadn't even been chasing skips for the last couple of months, which is surprising to me. She loves to be out of the office, so the fact that she was voluntarily behind a desk has me extremely curious as to what was going on with her.

I walked on to five, straight into a conference room filled with my men and a woman whom I didn't recognize but assumed was Lexie. "Report!" I'm sure I barked, as I took my seat at the head of the table.

"Bossman, we've got nothing," Bobby said. "She left RangeMan at 1200 hours. She said she was taking the afternoon off and was planning to be off the rest of the weekend. She seemed to be in a great mood. No behavior to lead us to believe that she would bolt."

"She wouldn't bolt," the woman in the room said affirmatively. "I know I haven't known Steph as long as the rest of you have, but I do know her," she said looking around the room and finally making eye contact with me. "She was so happy you were coming back. I'm seriously worried about her." And that worry was written all over her face.

"What makes you so worried?" I asked her.

Her face flushed and she looked down, refusing eye contact before saying, "I'm just worried. It isn't something I'm comfortable talking about right now." She finally glanced up and made eye contact with me.

If she and Steph had gotten as close as Brown had led me to believe, I needed to know why she was worried and I needed to know now. "My office." I said, standing to go.

"All due respect sir, can this please wait?"

"I don't think it can. Brown tells me you and Steph have gotten very close, if you are worried more than the rest of us, then I need to know why." I stared at her hoping my blank face was firmly in place. I didn't want it to show that I was truly scared that Stephanie was gone without a sign, because I was.

She sighed and her shoulders slumped. I could tell whatever it was that was causing her worry she didn't want to be the one to tell me. She looked back up at my face and said, "Maybe we should head over to your apartment?"

I nodded and led the way, Lexie and Bobby followed. As I was leaving the room I called for Tank over my shoulder. In the garage, Lexie and Bobby climbed into one SUV and Tank squished into the Turbo with me.

"What does Lula say?" I asked hoping for something more than what I'd been given.

"She doesn't have a clue, man. But judging by the look on her face, she is just as panicked as Lexie but won't tell me what has her so spooked."

"Morelli?" I asked. I didn't think he would do anything crazy, but sometimes, you just never know.

"In Philly. Best we can tell she hasn't seen him since February," he said with a slight chuckle.

"What?"

"Man, she'd been battling the flu and ran in to him when she and Lexie had gone out for dinner together on Valentine's Day. He gave her a hard time and she ended up chucking on him. A friend of Cal's was in the restaurant and caught their argument on video with his phone. Sent us the clip of her puking on him. The look on his face was priceless, man."

As nervous as I was about not knowing where Steph is, the thought of her puking on Morelli made me smile. "Once Steph is home, safe and sound, I want to see that video."

"Already saved on your desktop."

I walked into our apartment and turned on the lights. Sure enough, the apartment was pristine. The alarm history showed the last time she set it was about 1430 hours and it wasn't triggered again until about 2000 hours, when Bobby went to check on her. There was no sign of a struggle. The bathroom had clean towels setting on the counter and the bedroom had the sexiest lingerie I'd ever seen laying on the chair next to the bed. As I stood in the bedroom staring at the chair, taking in her scent that seemed to envelop the room, Lexie reached out and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Carlos," she said timidly. I turned and gave her a skeptical look. No one but Stephanie and my family calls me Carlos. She continued, "I know everyone calls you Ranger, but when Stephanie would talk about you she always called you Carlos". With a sad smile, she said, "I think you need to sit down."

Oh shit!

**TBC…**

_Author's Note: So…who has Stephanie? Where could she be? And how do you think Lexie is going to tell Carlos about the baby? How do you think he will respond? Please review!_


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Any characters you don't recognize are mine. All the rest…not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. **

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: This chapter was a real tough one for me and it went through several different drafts. I hope you are pleased with the end results. **

_Previously:_

"_Carlos," she said timidly. I turned and gave her a skeptical look. No one but Stephanie and my family calls me Carlos. She continued, "I know everyone calls you Ranger, but when Stephanie would talk about you she always called you Carlos". With a sad smile, she said, "I think you need to sit down."_

_Oh shit!_

**Ch. 17**

**Steph's POV**

Ugh! Crap! Akkk!

I have a headache worse than any hangover headache I've had in my entire life, and I feel like I've been hit by a truck. 'Peanut!' I have no idea what has happened, but I pray my little peanut is ok. And Carlos? Carlos was coming home tomorrow. Or, I suppose it could be today by now. Where am I? And why is it so dark? Are my eyes open? Crap, they're open. But it is pitch black in here. So wherever I am, there couldn't possibly be any windows.

I can feel my arms enough to tell they are somehow secured behind me. And my ankles are tied together too. Whatever is keeping them together isn't making a sound, so they aren't traditional handcuffs. I don't feel naked, which is a good sign, but I have no way of knowing if I'm still in the clothes I was wearing when I left. When I left, when did I leave? How long have I been here and what the hell happened? Where am I, and most importantly…who the hell took me?

**Carlos's POV**

"_I think you should sit down."_

Oh shit! Nothing good could possibly be coming next. Steph is missing, I have no idea where she could be and here is this woman whom I've just met, telling me to sit down. I give her a skeptical glance and then do as she says. I'm not one to typically take orders, but even an ounce more of bad news and I may very well lose it.

"Carlos, I really shouldn't be the one telling you this," she started out. "Steph was pretty panicked the first week or so, but I promise you, the panic wore off and she was really excited."

"Excited about what?" Ok, now I'm starting to sound like my Babe. I can't even seem to let Lexie finish her thought.

She took a deep breath and let it out loudly. She turned and went to the dresser, picked what looked like a picture frame out of it and came and sat beside me on the bed. She took another deep breath, turned the frame over and handed it to me.

Oh shit!

**Steph's POV**

I still have no idea where I am, or who has me, but I know one thing for certain, if I don't get to a toilet pretty soon there is going to be a big mess in here! I have no choice.

"HELLO! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?" I'm shouting and it sounds like it is echoing. I have no idea if anyone is in the room with me, or what kind of room I'm even in, but I'm not above begging at this point.

"PLEASE! I REALLY, REALLY NEED TO USE THE BATHROOM." I waited a few minutes, and there was nothing. I didn't think I could hold it anymore and I started to cry. What felt like moments before I would either wet myself or my bladder would explode, I heard the distinct sound of a lock tumbling and saw a light flick on, that momentarily blinded me.

Once my eyes adjusted to the sudden light, I was able to take in my surroundings. I had never seen a room like this before. It seemed to be a shelter of some kind, with a bed that attached to the wall, a small sink in the corner and a door next to the sink. I am really hoping that there is a bathroom behind that door!

Standing just inside the door is a woman, who looked to be about 100, with gray, ratted hair tied up on top of her head. She didn't appear to have any teeth and she was wearing a gown and house slippers. She moved toward me with a knife in her hands. I'm sure my eyes were as big as saucers, as I tried desperately not to panic.

With an evil glint in her eyes, she pointed the knife at me and said, "I may be old, but I know how to use this. You behave and I won't tie you back up. You don't behave and my grandbaby will be down in here in two seconds flat and then you'll really be sorry."

There was nothing I could say at this point. I didn't want to cry and show how truly scared I was and I still had no clue as to who could have possibly brought me here, so I nodded. I would behave…for now.

The old lady used the knife to cut the rope on my hands and feet. She nodded her head as if to say it was a good thing I was cooperating and stepped back toward the door. "Pot's over there," she said pointing to the door with the knife. "Supper'll be ready in about three hours. You behave and maybe you can shower after."

I couldn't pick out the accent. She definitely wasn't from Jersey or anywhere in the immediate vicinity. It didn't mean we weren't close by, but she wasn't from Trenton, that much I could tell.

"Thank you," I said. I wanted to stay in whatever good graces I was in with this woman, because I definitely wanted a shower.

I rushed into the bathroom and felt relief instantly. I took a moment to collect myself, not wanting to cry over my situation. I had no idea what was used to render me unconscious, I only know it wasn't a stun gun. I had no idea what effect whatever was used would have on my baby. I did know that I had been extremely careful about who knew and who didn't know about my pregnancy, so if my kidnapper didn't know, I didn't want to tip them off. Just as I was about to step out of the bathroom, I felt it again. That flutter low in my belly. It almost felt like butterflies flying around in my stomach. I smiled and cried at the same time as relief washed over me. I hoped this meant that my little peanut really was ok.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, I noticed I was alone again. The light had remained on, so I was able to take in my surroundings more thoroughly. There wasn't really much to see. There was a hot plate under the sink that could be used to heat up food. There was a stockpile of canned goods and plastic water bottles under where the bed hung from the wall. The walls seemed to be made of cinder blocks. By all appearances, it seemed like some type of fallout shelter.

I sat down on the bed and tried to think back over the last several months to think of who could possibly be responsible for this. The old lady had given me no clues. She had only said "grandbaby", no real indication of male or female. I hadn't had any difficult skips in a long time. In fact, I hadn't even been chasing skips for three months now. I wracked my brain for what seemed like hours, when one name popped into my head causing me to shiver. Please oh please…don't let it be him.

**Carlos's POV**

I stared at the picture frame unable to move or say anything. I have no idea how long I sat there. The thoughts were flying through my mind. A baby? My baby? Babe was having a baby? Our baby?

Lexie had a sad, pained look on her face as she spoke. "Carlos, I wouldn't have even shown you this, but I assumed you would tear this apartment apart looking for clues, and I knew that Stephanie had it there to show you tomorrow. I promised her I wouldn't say anything. None of the Merry Men know."

I looked at her. I wasn't even sure what to say to her. She continued.

"She found out after she threw up on Morelli on Valentine's Day. At first, she was terrified about how you would take it. But after she met with Celia and saw the baby, everything changed."

That piqued my interest. "Celia knows?"

"Yes. I used to work with Celia in Princeton. I assured Stephanie that she was the best OBGYN on the East Coast and I knew they had grown close since you introduced them on New Year's Eve. She went to see her and the ultrasound confirmed that she was pregnant."

"Who else knows?"

"Just me, Celia and Lula. She didn't want anyone else to know before she told you, but said she needed us for support." We sat in silence for a long time before she cleared her throat and said, "She calls the baby, Peanut."

"Peanut?" I asked looking back at the picture in my hands.

"Yes. She said it looked like a peanut on the screen. I guess the nickname stuck."

"Does she know the sex?" It didn't matter but I was curious and it just popped out. Man, I really was becoming more and more like my Babe.

"No. She was waiting for you. She has an appointment with Celia next week to find out." She put her head down and took a deep breath again.

"Carlos, I don't think it is important that the men know right now, but that decision is entirely up to you. They all love Stephanie and will do everything in their power to find her. But I thought you should hear it from a friend instead of stumbling upon the pictures on your own. I know you don't know me, but I am Stephanie's friend and I feel like I know you from stories she and the guys have shared with me."

I nodded. Although I knew this wasn't the way Steph wanted me to find out, Lexie had done the right thing in telling me. Lexie left the room to give me a minute to collect myself. As I stared at the picture of the picture of my little Peanut, I promised, "I will find you. Both of you."

_**Three hours later…**_

**Steph's POV**

I had lain on the bed, which was really more like a cot and completely uncomfortable, for what felt like days waiting on something to eat. My stomach was growling furiously and I was starting to feel nauseous. I hadn't had any morning sickness for a few weeks, but I also hadn't allowed myself to get too hungry. I had found out pretty quickly that that was a trigger for me. If my stomach was empty, I got nauseous. If it was full I was fine. I made it a point to snack every couple of hours to avoid the emptiness. I hadn't eaten in who knows how long and I was starving.

Finally, the locks tumbled again. I didn't know who to expect and I hadn't found anything that could possibly be used as a weapon, so I pushed myself as far against the wall as possibly and hoped for the crazy old lady with the knife again.

The door opened and there stood Granny again. She held a tray of food that looked anything but appetizing, but at least it didn't smell bad. I didn't think I could handle a strong smell at this point. She handed me the tray and as I tried to figure out what this slop that was supposed to be food actually was, she slipped out the door. I put the plastic spork into the pile of nastiness and hesitantly brought it to my mouth. With a big gulp, I opened my mouth and tasted it. It tasted bland. It had no distinct flavors. As long as it wasn't poisoned, I supposed I could eat it. I finished all of the food, and still had no clue what it was I had eaten. I suppose it was possible that it was some sort of pot-pie based on the texture, but the flavor gave nothing away. The only good thing was, I was no longer starving and the nausea was fading.

I sat the tray aside and moments later the locks tumbled again. Granny entered carrying a towel, washcloth, a small bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap, and what looked like one of her nightgowns. She sat it all on the bed, picked up the tray and turned and left without a word.

I went back into the bathroom and turned on the shower. The water heated up to barely above freezing at best. It wasn't the Ritz, but at least I could get somewhat clean. I let the tub fill and then proceeded to wash myself off. Once my body was mostly clean, I leaned my head over the side and turned the water back on to quickly wash my hair. Once the shampoo was out, I wrapped the towel around my hair, threw the gown on sans undergarments and proceeded to clean my panties in the tub using the soap. I set them aside to dry and headed back into the room. With no clue as to when someone would come in again, I climbed onto the bed, under the tiny cover and cried myself to sleep.

_**One week later…**_

_**Carlos's POV**_

How could there be nothing? I have been through every single thing she even touched since I left and there are no clues. Nothing! She stopped chasing skips after she found out she was pregnant, which I was proud of her for. She was taking precautions to keep our baby safe. Our baby. I still can't believe that my Babe is having my baby. After the initial shock wore off, I realized how happy I was. I know it isn't anything we planned. Shit, we hadn't even talked about marriage let alone kids, but it just feels great to know that my Babe has a piece of both of us growing inside of her.

Lexie said she wasn't showing yet, but that she had mentioned her pants getting tighter. The thought that whatever lunatic has her also has our baby makes me blind with rage. And if he, or she I suppose, didn't know that Steph is pregnant when they took her, it could become obvious soon. I have to find them before that secret is discovered.

I had just poured through all of her files for the umpteenth time and I needed a cup of coffee. I was running on limited sleep and pure determination to find my Babe and caffeine was becoming a necessity. I walked into the kitchen area on five to find Lula and Lexie sitting at a table talking over muffins and coffee. As I was filling my cup I overheard their conversation.

"My Tankie says there still ain't no leads?" Lula questions Lexie with a hint of nervousness in her voice. I know that Lula knew my Babe is pregnant and the worry on her face seemed to reflect the same look of worry that each of my men carries since I told them. I couldn't keep it a secret. If nothing else, it helped to express the urgency in finding her.

"No, nothing," Lexie said shaking her head.

"White girl and me had dinner twice a week and she ain't mentioned no body crazy that she come across since that Boston strangler guy."

I shot my head around and stared at Lula. At nearly the same time, Lexie and I both said, "What?"

Lula looked between Lexie and I as if she shouldn't have to explain herself. "You know, that guy. The one that she picked up with Bobby and Lester when they was trying out to get to be her partner. Said he gave her a real funny look when Bobby was taking him in to the cop shop and it gave her the willies."

I looked at Lexie and rushed out of the kitchen, with her hot on my tail. I heard Lula shout after us, "What did I say?"

As I headed to my office to check her files again I dialed Tank. He answered with his standard, "Talk".

"Get Brown and Santos in my office, now."

Bobby and Lester entered my office moments after Lexie and I did, and was followed by Tank and Lula. I looked at Lula and said "Explain".

"Explain what Batman? I'm lost here."

"Tell them what you were just talking about in the kitchen. The last guy that set Steph's spidey sense off."

"Oh, that Boston strangler guy? I don't remember what she said his actual name was, just that he really gave her the creeps."

Lester spoke up, "DeSalva. We picked him up when Steph first came on full time. She thought it was weird how similar his name was to the Boston Strangler's. I'll give Eddie a call and find out what happened with him." Lester rushed out of the office with his phone already to his ear.

"Brown, you and Lexie start digging. I want friends, family, every detail we can find on him, find it…yesterday," I said. They nodded and quickly left the room.

Lula stared at me as I headed behind my desk to dial Connie and find out what she had on him. Tank leaned down and kissed Lula on the head and whispered, "Good job, Baby." I barely heard him as Connie picked up, "Vincent Plum Bail Bonds."

**TBC…**

_Author's Note: Is it really DeSalva? What would DeSalva want with Steph and does he already know about the baby? Now that Carlos has a suspect, do you think it will be easy for him to find her? Please review!_


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: Any characters you don't recognize are mine. All the rest…not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. **

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: This chapter was a real tough one for me and it went through several different drafts. I hope you are pleased with the end results. **

_Previously: (Ranger's POV)_

"_Brown, you and Lexie start digging. I want friends, family, every detail we can find on him, find it…yesterday," I said. They nodded and quickly left the room._

_Lula stared at me as I headed behind my desk to dial Connie and find out what she had on him. Tank leaned down and kissed Lula on the head and whispered, "Good job, Baby." I barely heard him as Connie picked up, "Vincent Plum Bail Bonds."_

**Ch. 18**

**Ranger's POV**

This son of a bitch is sneaky. We had been tracking DeSalva for two days, but seem to be two steps behind him. After Lula's amazing tip, we poured our efforts into finding anywhere he could possibly be. Turns out the man has an enormous family, spread across 6 different states, and that doesn't include any friends.

We reached out to our network of contacts and he had been spotted in Alpharetta, Georgia; Biloxi, Mississippi; deep in the mountains outside of Charleston, West Virginia; Canton, Ohio; Buffalo, New York, the list goes on and on. It was obvious to me he was trying to throw us off his track, but I wasn't going to let anything deter me. I knew he had my Babe and I was going to find her.

He shouldn't have gotten out of jail. He had gotten off because the off duty cop that busted him had been slightly intoxicated, blowing just below the legal limit. And, the woman he was accused of attacking refused to testify against him. She had claimed she didn't get a good enough look at his face to send him to jail and then she disappeared. No sign of her anywhere. And now, the scum was out of jail, free to hurt someone else. Well, he wasn't going to hurt Steph. I would make sure of that.

**Steph's POV**

As best I could tell, I had been in this shelter, or whatever the hell it is, for just over a week. That scary old lady brought me food, if you could call it that, three times a day. I had drank nearly all of the bottled water stored in the room, afraid of getting dehydrated and having the baby suffer, and had eaten a couple of the canned food items stored there as well. I had plugged in the hot plate, opened the can of stew and warmed it up. It wasn't the best food I'd ever eaten, but it at least had a little flavor. I swear that crazy Granny hasn't even heard of salt!

I was also showing now. I couldn't believe it, Celia had warned me that I would wake up one day and would all of a sudden have a belly, and she was right. Thankfully, I was still wearing these hideous, old lady gowns so it wasn't as obvious. I would wash out my panties and as soon as they were dry, I would put them back on, because there was no way I was going without and she hadn't supplied me with any clean ones. I was also walking around barefoot. Thankfully it only got cold at night, and I would just stay on the bed under the blanket. It was early May, and wherever I was, it still cooled off at night and my bare feet couldn't handle the concrete floor barefoot.

I still hadn't confirmed my suspicions of who had me, but was actually grateful for that. That meant he hadn't confronted me. I didn't know what he would do if he figured out I was pregnant and unfortunately, in anything but the gown, it was obvious. I spent most of my day taking turns between going absolutely stir crazy and silently praying that Carlos would find me. I hoped he had some clue and would turn up any moment, but my faith was slightly wavering as time crept on.

My little peanut was moving more and more though, and at times I was pretty sure I felt the kick on the outside as well. I was devastated that Carlos was missing it. I knew he hadn't gotten to be there much for Rachel when she was pregnant with Julie, and I was halfway through my pregnancy now. I wondered if Lexie or Celia had told him about the baby. And, I hoped he hadn't freaked out too much if they did. In fact, a small part of me was afraid he wasn't even looking for me. But every time those thoughts would come to mind I would desperately try to push them away, and reassure myself that Carlos loved me, and he would come for me. He might be unsure about the baby if he knew about it, but he would come for me, for us. He had to.

**Carlos's POV**

Stephanie had been missing for a week and two days, and it was entirely two long. I hadn't slept more than a couple of hours at a time and my men were running on fumes. We had all been using every resource we had to find her and our baby, our little peanut. And we finally got a hit.

Now, we were set up around a property in the hills of South Williamson, Kentucky. It was a good place to hide someone that is for sure. DeSalva's Great Grandmother owned a house deep in the mountains with no neighbors around for several miles. It was surrounded by trees and was extremely secluded. If they had Steph here, and she did try to escape, she would get lost in the trees and there would be no one for miles to help her.

We had practically every man from the Trenton office surrounding the property. If we were wrong, we would look like fools, but if we were right, there was no way we were leaving there without Stephanie. God, I hoped we were right.

Bobby and I were located on the southeast side of the house hidden in the trees, and at approximately 1255 hours, DeSalva walked out of the back of the house, around to our side where he lifted a wooded door to what looked like a storm cellar and walked down the stairs, leaving the door open behind him. It was now, 1300, and if he wasn't out in exactly two minutes, we were going in after him.

Tank and Lester had a visual on the great-grandmother, and she was in the kitchen on the southwest side of the house. If necessary, they would detain her, while we checked out the storm cellar. Cal and Hal were up in the trees on the south side of the house and didn't detect anyone else on the top floor of the house, while Binkie and Zero had cleared the north side of the top floor. Hector and Brett were keeping watch on the road and had disabled the vehicles in the driveway, so if they were to try to escape, it would be on foot. The rest of my men surrounded the property and had cleared the woods of any other means of transportation. DeSalva was not getting away.

Ok, forget his two minutes, Bobby and I were heading in.

**Steph's POV**

I had just put my panties back on from their cleaning this morning, and had washed my hair, trying to kill time. The longer I was here, the longer the days seemed. And believe it or not, I just couldn't sleep anymore. I felt like I spent a week sleeping, and I couldn't do it anymore.

I had eaten the slop that crazy Granny had brought to me and finished my second bottle of water of the day. My water supply was limited and I was afraid if someone didn't rescue me soon, I would be forced to drink out of the sink. I hadn't braved trying the water yet, but would drink it if it were my only option. I had just lain down on the bed in my thinking position, when I heard the click of the locks. Fear coursed through me, because it hadn't been that long since crazy Granny had brought lunch and it was way too soon for her to be back again. She never came in between meals. I was quickly launched out of the Land of Denial where some crazy Granny had me kidnapped so she could use me as her recipe tester.

I pulled the blanket on the bed tight to my chest, sat up and stared at the door. My worst fear came true as Albert DeSalva stepped into the room. I felt myself get light headed and forced myself to breathe. It wouldn't do me or my little peanut any good if I lost consciousness now, especially with the look on his face. I thought he gave me the creeps when I first met him, but right now it was about a hundred times worse. I sent a silent prayer up for Carlos to get here fast and swallowed hard, waiting to see what happened next.

DeSalva stepped into the room with an evil grin on his face and said, "Finally!"

"Finally, what?" I asked, trying to sound more confident than I felt.

"I've spent a week trying to make sure I threw those thugs that you spend all your time whoring around with off my trail. And now I'm here, Allison and you are all mine."

"Allison? Who is Allison?" I asked, truly confused.

"Did you think I wouldn't recognize you, Allison? You may have changed your hair, but your eyes are exactly the same. And you still have that innocent, open and loving look about you. I knew you wouldn't lose that look, baby."

I was so lost. I had no idea who he was talking about. I don't remember anything in his file about anyone named Allison. His victim wasn't named Allison, and there were no immediate relatives with that name either.

"I don't know what you are talking about, but my name isn't Allison," I said to him with firmness to my voice. I didn't want him to think I was in any way trying to trick him.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" He screamed at me causing me to flinch back into the wall. "I knew it was you the moment I saw you in Trenton. Although, I thought you were in Georgia with that scum, Paul, that you left me for. Auntie June had told me she saw you just days before I saw you in Trenton. It is your fault I nearly killed that girl."

"How is it my fault?" I asked, playing along with him, hoping he would move away from the door so I could make a run for it.

"She had on a sweater just like the one I bought for you two years ago and when I saw her something in me just snapped. I was so angry with you for leaving me that I just grabbed her and when she tried to convince me she wasn't you I tried to suffocate her. When that cop pulled me off of her, I realized it wasn't you, but by then I was already under arrest."

"How did you get out of jail?" I asked.

"That stupid cop was drunk!" He said with a laugh. "So his accounting of what happened wouldn't stand up in court. And Uncle Johnny convinced the girl not to press charges and then I heard she disappeared," he said with an evil leer on his face. I squeezed the blanket tighter to my body.

"So, what are we doing here?" I asked, completely afraid of his answer.

"I'm going to do what I promised to do to you if you ever left me," he said as he reached out and pulled me off the bed and to him, spinning me so that my back was to his front.

He had one arm around my neck, while the other hand was going up and down my side. I tried to suppress the shudder that ran through my body but had no luck. He took it as an invitation instead of a mixture of fear and repulsion and slipped his hand under the gown and up the front of my body. He hand roughly grabbed my mound before heading up my body toward my breasts. His hand brushed over my stomach just as my little peanut kicked, he tensed up and said in the scariest voice yet, "What the fuck is that?"

I knew my time was running out and he was seemingly distracted by the fact that my stomach just kicked at his hand, so using moves that Lester and Bobby taught me, I pushed my rear back into him as I shoved my elbow into his gut, causing him to release my neck. I turned and as hard as I could, rammed the palm of my hand up into his nose. He bent over and screamed in pain and I took off out the door and up the stairs. I wasn't going to give him even a second to recover, I needed to get out of there and I needed to get out now.

I ran up the stairs and took off across the grass toward the trees away from the house. I had no idea where I was but I was going to run as fast and as far away as I possibly could. I wasn't sure if he was following me or if my hit had given me much of a head start, but I knew I couldn't look back because it might slow me down. I was just reaching the trees, when arms came around my body grabbing me and a blood-curdling scream escaped me.

**TBC…**

_Author's Note: Well? What happens next?_


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: Any characters you don't recognize are mine. All the rest…not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. **

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: So sorry for the delay. Real life has been kicking me in the pants. Thanks for sticking with me. I also just wanted to say thank you again to my Beta, Cristi0819! You are the best. Thanks for your time, support, and helping me not to push the timeline too far without appropriate reactions from the main characters. **

_Previously: _

_I ran up the stairs and took off across the grass toward the trees away from the house. I had no idea where I was but I was going to run as fast and as far away as I possibly could. I wasn't sure if he was following me or if my hit had given me much of a head start, but I knew I couldn't look back because it might slow me down. I was just reaching the trees, when arms came around my body grabbing me and a blood-curdling scream escaped me. _

**Ch. 19**

**Ranger's POV**

Bobby and I were just starting to move forward when Binkie broke silence on the radio.

"We've got movement coming from the cellar."

We stilled and mere moments later, Stephanie flew out of the cellar doors and across the lawn. I looked at Bobby and told him to "secure DeSalva" and then took off after Stephanie. I reached her just as she was hitting the tree line and wrapped my arms around her to stop her forward motion. She screamed and began struggling and kicking to get away from me.

I instantly tried to reassure her, tightening my arms around her and whispering, "Babe, it's me. I've got you, you're safe."

Once I got through to her, she instantly relaxed and her legs collapsed from under her. I scooped her up and moved her into the trees to give her cover, just in case we missed someone on the property. I heard scuffling in my earpiece and then, silence.

"Report" I said.

"DeSalva's secure, Bossman. Looks like Bomber broke his nose." Bobby said and I could hear his smile.

"The old lady is feisty, but we got the knife away from her and she is secure on the back steps." Tank reported.

"No signs of anyone else, Boss." Brett reported.

"Clear here, too." Cal added.

Knowing everything was secure, I turned my focus to Stephanie, who was shaking in my arms, clinging to my neck. I gently lifted her chin to look at her face and began rubbing my hands over her body checking for injuries.

She looked deep into my eyes, smiled and said, "I'm fine, Carlos. We're fine, just a little shaky. DeSalva and I had a minor scuffle but I think he is worse for wear than I am."

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her with everything in me. I didn't want to let go of her again, ever. As I was kissing her, it hit me. She said 'we're fine'. I reluctantly pulled away from the kiss and put my hands on her slightly protruding belly. She looked at me with a little bit of fear in her eyes, but before she could say anything, I asked, "How's our little peanut?"

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree and she pulled me tighter to her again, kissing me with all she had. I, of course, returned the kiss. When we pulled away, breathless again, she looked at me and smiled.

"Our little peanut seems to be doing ok, but its Mommy would love some real food!" She said just as her stomach let out a roar.

I laughed, a full belly laugh, the first time I've laughed in months and pulled her back into my arms. "I think that can be arranged, Babe."

I wanted desperately to go down to that cellar and kill DeSalva with my bare hands, but considering I would have to let go of my Babe to do it, he would just have to handle whatever punishment Bobby gave him before the police arrived.

**Steph's POV**

When I felt those arms around me I was so afraid DeSalva had caught me and fearful of what he would do to my baby, and me, especially after I had hit him. I screamed and fought with the little energy I had left in me and was relieved to hear that, oh-so familiar voice in my ear saying "Babe". Whatever soothing words he said after that were lost on me as I melted into him and began shaking from the release of the adrenaline my body was holding.

I was vaguely aware of Carlos checking on the status with the guys before he took me in his arms and kissed me. That kiss showed me how much he loved me and how glad he was I was safe. He checked my body for injuries and asked how I was, and I told him I was fine, we were fine. I didn't know if he knew about the baby and since I was still wearing this God forsaken old-lady gown, it wasn't overwhelmingly obvious. He kissed me again and then it seemed he realized what I said. He pulled back to look at me and then he asked me if "our little peanut was ok". I could hardly contain myself. He wasn't angry, in fact, there was a look in his eyes that showed me how not angry he was. It was my turn to kiss him and show him just how much I loved him.

I could tell he was itching to go take care of DeSalva, but I couldn't let him out of my arms. I had just gotten him back and I was still pretty freaked about the last week and few days and I needed the strength being in his arms was giving me. Also, there was no way I was raising this baby while its Daddy was in jail for murdering a psycho. Carlos didn't say anything; he just continued to hold me.

We spent hours talking to local police and then FBI. Because DeSalva had abducted me and taken me across state lines, he was going to be charged with a felony. After we had given the cops everything we could there, we were released, but it was requested that we come in and give official statements the next afternoon. Once we finally left, Carlos insisted that I go to the hospital to be checked out. While I would normally fight tooth and nail to avoid the hospital, I wanted to make sure the baby really was ok, so I agreed. I think he was shocked with how easy it was for me to agree.

We arrived at Williamson Memorial Hospital and only waited a few short minutes before being taken back to a room to be checked out. My nurse, named Betty Jo, was incredibly nice. She was gentle but thorough and asked dozens of questions. Could I feel the baby kick, had the kicking decreased at all, had I been eating balanced meals, had I endured any injuries to my stomach, etc. I answered her as thoroughly as possible and when I talked about the lack of a decent tasting meal, my stomach let out another horrendous roar. Thankfully, about that time Bobby had come into the room with a bag of food from a local deli. Betty Jo didn't say a word and let me devour the wonderful pastrami on rye, pickles and chips. I also downed two bottles of water.

I did tell Betty Jo that I wasn't sure what DeSalva had used to render me unconscious and I was worried on what effects it could have had on the baby. She told me that she would run an ultrasound and take a look, to make sure all was well, and that most likely if nothing bad had happened yet, we were in the clear. She also mentioned that I was slightly dehydrated and wanted to hook me up to an IV to fill me with fluids before my ultrasound and while I waited for the doctor to make sure everything was ok. As much as I hate needles, which just happens to be a close second to how much I hate hospitals, I agreed.

Two bags of fluid and a trip to the restroom later, and I was on a table with Carlos's hand in mine preparing for our ultrasound. Betty Jo was in the room along with the ultrasound tech, Sandy. Since I had ditched the old lady gown for one of Carlos's extra t-shirts he had with him and a pair of yoga pants, I only had to lift my shirt for the cold goop to get squirted on my stomach. I jumped at the coldness of it. When I had had my ultrasound in Princeton with Celia, they had a gel warmer, so it was warm going on. The coldness surprised me and caused me to give a little shriek. Which, of course, caused Carlos to give a little chuckle.

Sandy ran the wand over my belly and there, on the screen was our baby. Our little peanut, although, it didn't look like a peanut anymore, it looked like a real baby. Well mostly like an alien baby, but that's ok. Sandy pointed out features to us, like the face, nose, spinal cord, arms, legs and then asked if we wanted to know the baby's sex. We hadn't really talked about it but I definitely wanted to know. I just didn't know if Carlos wanted to know, but before I could say anything he leaned over and kissed my temple and whispered in my ear, "Up to you, Babe. I'm game if you are."

With a smile, I nodded at Sandy. She moved the wand a couple more times and then pointed out our little RangeMan's appendage. We were having a boy! Excited by this revelation, Carlos leaned over and kissed me. It was a quick but definitely loving kiss, and then he returned his attention to the screen and our baby.

Sandy finished up the ultrasound, cleaned off my stomach and told me the doctor would be in in about an hour or so. She said he was actually in the middle of a delivery, so it could be longer, and then she excused herself. Betty Jo followed her out and I looked over at Carlos, who still held my hand in his and had a goofy grin on his face.

I scooted over on the bed, pulled the covers back and patted the bed next to me inviting him to join me. Carlos quickly climbed onto the bed next to me and wrapped his arms around me kissing my hair. I tucked my head under his chin and just enjoyed being held in his arms. We sat like that for some time before we started talking.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't the one to tell you about the baby. Who told you?" I asked Carlos.

"Lexie did. She really cares a lot about you Steph, and it pained her to tell me knowing how special you wanted to make it."

"How did she tell you?"

"She gave me the picture frame." I sighed. I had wanted so badly to be the one to tell him. Mostly because I was afraid of how he would take it, especially since we were new to a relationship.

"Babe, I know this isn't how either of us expected our relationship to go. At least not this quickly." Carlos and his ESP. "But I love you. And I am honestly happy about this baby."

I took a deep breath and tried to keep myself from crying. Damn pregnancy hormones. "I love you, too. And I'm really happy about the baby, too. I was totally freaked out at first, but every time I feel him move I can't help but smile."

Carlos had one arm around me and the other hand was rubbing over my belly. He leaned in and kissed me so lovingly and then our little peanut decided to make his presence known to his Daddy, and he gave a good kick right where Carlos's hand was.

Carlos broke into a 200-watt smile as his hand stilled where the baby was kicking. "Hey there little man, be gentle on your Momma. She's had a rough couple weeks," he said to my belly. I couldn't help but giggle.

A few hours later we were released from the hospital and were headed back to Trenton. I didn't want to spend another minute in the hospital and was ready to get far, far away from my prison for the last week or so. I still wasn't 100 percent sure how long I had been gone, but I knew it was too long for me. I wanted to go home.

I slept the whole way back to Trenton, only waking up as Carlos was lifting me out of the car to go inside our apartment building. I protested, saying I could walk, but Carlos just held me tighter and said, "I know".

We went to see Celia the next day to confirm everything the doctor at the hospital had said. Our little peanut looked just fine to her and she confirmed that it was indeed a boy. Carlos was so happy and couldn't wait to share the news with the guys back at the office. But they would have to wait, as we were offline for the next couple days and we planned to spend those days wrapped in each others arms.

**TBC…**

_**Author's Note: **Was their reunion ok? Let me know what you think. There isn't a lot left to the story, so let me know what you would like to see happen next? Should they get married now?_


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: Any characters you don't recognize are mine. All the rest…not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. **

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: So sorry for the delay. Real life has been kicking me in the pants. Thanks for sticking with me. I also just wanted to say thank you again to my Beta, Cristi0819! You are the best. Thanks for your time, support, and helping me not to push the timeline too far without appropriate reactions from the main characters. **

_Previously: _

_We went to see Celia the next day to confirm everything the doctor at the hospital had said. Our little peanut looked just fine to her and she confirmed that it was indeed a boy. Carlos was so happy and couldn't wait to share the news with the guys back at the office. But they would have to wait, as we were offline for the next couple days and we planned to spend those days wrapped in each other's arms._

**Ch. 20**

**Steph's POV**

It felt so good to be back in Carlos's arms. He had been so gentle and loving with me since he found me. And he was so excited about the baby, which was a huge relief for me. For someone who had once professed to me that he didn't do stupid things like marriage and pregnancy, he certainly had changed his tune. We hadn't discussed marriage yet, and if I was being completely honest, I was ok with that for now, but we had definitely talked about the baby.

Between love making sessions, as we laid in each other's arms, we discussed names, all the things Carlos wanted to teach his son, how we each hoped the baby would look, how excited Julie would be to have a baby brother and whether or not she would be able to come visit for a while after he was born or if we would need to go to Miami, and the reactions we anticipated from our family and friends. Only a select few knew about the baby already and they had been sworn to secrecy. We decided to have a party and announce it to everyone then. I was extremely nervous about inviting my mother, but decided it would cause too much trouble for my Dad and Grandma if I invited them and not Mom. Reluctantly, we decided to include her. Carlos reassured me it would all turn out great. I hope he was right.

We had been offline for several days when we headed back to RangeMan. It was a Monday morning and we had decided we would invite everyone to dinner the next night, giving me a little more time to deny what I knew would happen, and that was that my mother was going to have a fit!

We did decide, however, to announce it to the guys at the morning meeting. They all knew how to keep things classified, so there was no worry that they would tell anyone else before we told our families. Carlos asked if I wanted to be the one to tell them, but I told them he could have the honor, especially since they were his men. He told me I underestimated where their loyalty lied. That made me smile.

**Carlos' POV**

Steph and I walked into the morning meeting to cheers from the guys. I knew they would be as happy as I was to have her back within the walls of RangeMan and at my side. My Babe just smiled at their cheers. She really has no idea how much my men love her. I seriously wonder if it came down to choosing between her and I who they would pick…actually, no I don't. There is no doubt in my mind that they would choose her in a heartbeat.

I took my seat at the head of the table with Steph sitting to my right and Tank to my left. Steph had worn cargos and a loose fitting black shirt today, to hide her little baby bump. While the core team knew of the pregnancy, everyone else was in the dark. She was glowing, and I don't think it was just a result of the lovemaking that had occurred over the past 4 days, though I would certainly take credit for it that was what the guys were speculating.

"Report," I said to start our meeting. The guys went around the table filling me in on what had occurred in the four days I was off-line. The most important report came from Tank on the status of DeSalva.

"DeSalva's in lock up with the feds. Being charged with felony abduction, but looks like he might have a little luck with the insanity plea. The guy's a fruitcake."

"I'll second that," Steph added with a snort.

"His Granny is in lock up for her part in all of it. Looks like she'll do a good chunk of time. We have our ears to the ground to make sure none of the rest of his family comes out of the wood work to go after Bombshell. And we're pulling all the strings we can to make sure, even if he is declared insane, that he is locked up in a federal facility with no chance of getting out."

"Good. Let's make sure that happens. I want to be the first to know if there are any other threats on Steph from this family." I said.

With no other new business to discuss, it was time to reveal Steph's pregnancy to the rest of the group and to let them all know that it was a boy.

"We will have a new guy joining the ranks in September," I started. "Comes from a strong family background and will most likely step into a leadership role."

Some of the men shifted in their seats. Leadership roles are definitely hard to obtain and some of my guys have been working for years to move into the coveted position. The thought of a new guy just coming into one probably has a few of these guys ready to blow their tops, but of course, no one will argue.

"Got a name for us, Boss?" Lester asked. He was as curious as my Babe most of the time. I looked at Steph and grinned at the smile she was sporting.

"Last name, Manoso. First name, to be determined."

The room was silent for a good ten seconds, before the core team broke out in the biggest grins I had ever seen on these guys' faces. Even bigger than the smiles they had when I told them Steph was pregnant.

"Hoorah!" Tank, Lester, Bobby and Cal shouted in unison, while the rest of the guys still looked pretty confused. It wasn't until Bobby stood up, pulled Steph into his arms and spun her around that the rest of the guys finally understood what was going on. You know, for the best of the best, they were a little slow when it came to subtle messages.

Steph's laughter filled the room and she was quickly passed around the room for hugs and cheek kisses. When she got around to Lester, he dipped her back slightly and gave her a loud kiss right on the mouth. Always the one to take it one step too far.

"Santos" I growled. "Mats, 0500!"

He just laughed and said "It was worth it," with a wink to Steph. She just rolled her eyes at him and stepped to Tank and let my right hand man envelop her in a hug. I heard his mock whisper, "Please tell me you told Lula before us or I'm never going to hear the end of it."

Steph looked a little sheepish as she said, "I'm telling her at dinner, tonight. But I won't tell her you already know." Steph looked around the room and said, "Hey, where's Lexie?"

Bobby spoke up, "She has the day off. I told her I would fill her in on what she missed at this morning's meeting, but I'll let you fill her in on the big news."

Steph smiled her thanks and then stepped into my arms as I gave her a tight hug. I was ready to take her back home and celebrate our future son some more when Les opened his big mouth and asked the question that we had both seemed to be avoiding the last few days.

"So, when's the wedding?"

Steph looked at me as she answered for both of us, "One step at a time, Les". I laid a quick kiss in her curls and dismissed the group. We stood wrapped in each other's arms for a few minutes before she spoke.

"What do you have today?"

"Paperwork for most of the morning then a couple take-downs tonight. You?"

"Well…you actually don't have paperwork today," she stated with a sheepish look on her face.

"Babe?" Normally this would get a clipped "Explain" but I softened it.

"Well, since I found out I was pregnant I took over most of the office duties. Tank hated doing paperwork and since he was far more productive in the field than I was, and since there was no way I was going to chase skips while pregnant with our baby, I took it over. We have a pretty good system in place and Tank says I'm far quicker with the paperwork than he or you ever were." She looked at me and smiled. "I don't mind doing it and it has helped me when I present our services to clients. I have a full grasp of everything that RangeMan offers and I've secured several accounts for us."

"Proud of you, Bab.," I said as I pulled her to me for a scorching kiss. "Ok, if I'm not doing paperwork, then I suppose I need to get with Tank to prioritize our skip list. I will want to stop in on our new accounts and introduce myself to them and make sure everything is running smoothly."

"That would be good. Everyone that has come on board since you were gone has expressed nothing but good things in all of my follow ups, but it would be good to introduce yourself to them. I explained your role in the company and they know of you, but a face to a name is always a good thing when it comes to customer service. Just watch out for Mrs. Servelli. She reminds me a lot of Grandma Mazur." She said with a smile. "Think you'll have time for lunch together?"

"I'll make time. Meet you on seven at 12:30?"

"Sounds perfect, Carlos. Have a good morning." Steph leaned up and kissed me and then turned toward her cubicle. With her playing such a vital role in the company now, I think she needs an office. I will bring that up to Tank this morning, and see if we can make it happen without her knowing about it.

**Steph's POV**

Oh, the paperwork. Who would have thought we could get so backed up in paperwork with me being gone for two weeks? I suppose the guys weren't worried about the paperwork though. The morning flew by and I couldn't wait to meet Carlos for lunch. This pregnancy has my hormones racing and even though we spent the last four days in bed together, it just wasn't enough.

I headed up to seven at 12:15 to have a few minutes to freshen up before Carlos arrived. I don't think he was anticipating the lunch I had in mind when he walked into the apartment at 12:30.

I heard him enter the apartment and then yell for me when he didn't smell anything. "Babe? Was I supposed to call Ella?"

"Nope," I said as I came out of the bedroom just as he rounded the corner. He immediately stopped in his tracks as he took in my completely naked form. "I thought we'd work up an appetite first."

He had me in his arms in two seconds flat and was crushing his mouth against mine. We pulled apart only so he could remove his shirt and then he immediately lifted me to carry me back into the bedroom toward the bed. He sat me gently on the edge of the bed as he quickly removed his shoes, socks and cargos. Standing in front of me completely naked, I couldn't help but to touch his amazing body. I gripped his length and began stroking him, bringing him closer to me as I sat on the bed. I leaned forward and took him into my mouth.

A guttural groan came from Carlos, and I couldn't help but grin. I relaxed my throat and took as much of him into me as possible, moving at a slow and steady pace, in and out. I glanced up at his face and saw him watching me with a combination of love and raw passion in his eyes. After several minutes, I could tell Carlos was getting close, but he pulled back from me, and got to his knees in front of me.

He brought my face to his and his hands cupped my cheeks. He peppered my face with tender kisses and gave me the most passionate kiss he has ever given me. Keeping his hands on his face as we pulled apart from the kiss, he looked at me and said with such desire in his voice, "I love you, Stephanie".

I smiled at him and said, "I love you too, Carlos".

He gently lifted me into the center of the bed and then proceeded to kiss every inch of my body. I was wiggling under him, trying desperately to get his mouth where I so needed it to be. Finally, Carlos got the not so subtle hints I was giving and devoured my center as if he were a starving man. With his tongue giving all its attention to my clit, he inserted one and then two fingers into my center and thrust at a speed matching his tongues on my clit. It felt like seconds later that he inserted a third finger, and moments later I was screaming out his name.

Carlos kissed up my body, leaving his fingers in place, until he found my mouth. He removed his fingers eliciting a moan of displeasure from me, but quickly filled me with his length, which in turn, elicited a moan of great pleasure from both of us. We made slow, sweet love to each other and only after I had reached my climax three times, did Carlos follow me into bliss.

We laid there in each other's arms, trying to get our breathing under control, for what seemed like an hour. Once we were finally back to normal, Carlos leaned over and kissed my belly and whispered, "I love you peanut," while gently rubbing my stomach. The baby kicked and Carlos and I both laughed out loud.

"I think he likes his Daddy talking to him." I said.

Carlos flashed me his 200-watt smile and went back to talking to my stomach. "Daddy likes talking to you. But I can't wait to not have this barrier between us." This caused the baby to kick even harder.

"I'm guessing he agrees with you." I said, chuckling.

"Come on, Babe. I think we worked up an appetite, I know I'm starving."

My stomach decided it was its turn to make itself known and let out a roar. Carlos and I both laughed again, as he helped me up to get dressed. After freshening up in the bathroom, I met Carlos in the kitchen where we both grabbed a sandwich and fruit from the fridge. After a quick lunch, we headed back down to work.

Before we parted ways on 5, Carlos told me he would reserve the back room at Rossini's for dinner the next night and would handle inviting his family. I just needed to get mine there. 'Sigh!'

He also reminded me of the takedown he had that evening and I told him I would be eating dinner with Lula and most likely Connie and Lexie too. I told him I would see him at home when he was finished and gave him a quick kiss.

My afternoon was filled with paperwork, searches and client calls organizing meetings for Carlos and myself throughout the week for introductions. I also scheduled three new client meetings for Thursday and Friday. It was going to be a busy week!

Carlos swung by my cubical on his way to his takedown for a good luck kiss. I reminded him not to get shot and he told me not to go crazy and then reminded me to call my family. I grimaced at him and said I would. I think this was the first time in my life I wasn't looking forward to eating at Rossini's.

**TBC…**

_**Author's Note: **Ok folks, how is dinner with the family going to go? Please let me know your thoughts. After dinner with the family, some time will be skipped. Do you think it will be smooth sailing the rest of the pregnancy or will more drama arise? Let me know what you think…pretty please! _


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: Any characters you don't recognize are mine. All the rest…not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. **

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: So sorry for the delay. Real life has been kicking me in the pants and caused my motivation to write to fly right out the window. Thanks for sticking with me. I also just wanted to say thank you again to my Beta, Cristi0819! You are the best. **

_Previously: _

_Carlos swung by my cubical on his way to his takedown for a good luck kiss. I reminded him not to get shot and he told me not to go crazy and then reminded me to call my family. I grimaced at him and said I would. I think this was the first time in my life I wasn't looking forward to eating at Rossini's._

**Ch. 21**

**Steph's POV**

Well…one dinner down, one to go. Dinner with Lula and Lexie had gone wonderfully. Although, from the squealing the two of them did when I told them it was a boy, I'm surprised we weren't asked to leave the restaurant. I had told them some of the details about my ordeal with DeSalva, but when I told them I didn't want to talk about it any more, neither of them pushed. For that, I was incredibly thankful. I wasn't trying to be in denial about what had happened. In fact, Carlos and I had discussed it far more than I cared to, I just didn't want to rehash it again. I am happy. Carlos and I are having a son, and I just wanted to focus on that.

We discussed nursery themes, baby names, shopping for maternity clothes, since unfortunately my regular clothes no longer fit, and then Lula filled us in on all the things she imagined the Merry Men teaching my son. When I grimaced for the twentieth time, she reminded me to be grateful it isn't a girl. If I cringe at the amount of protection I receive, even when I don't want any, imagine the life a daughter would have. I conceded that she was right and would just have to live with toy guns and mini-Kevlar vests.

We wrapped up dinner and I went home and collapsed in exhaustion at around 9 p.m. I thought pregnant women were supposed to have more energy during the second trimester. I certainly didn't feel more energetic. Carlos came in sometime after midnight and I remember feeling a calm wash over me when he cuddled up next to me. Ahhh…home!

I got up early with Carlos this morning. I had been working out while he was on his mission, and surprisingly missed it during my kidnapping. It felt good to take a long walk on the treadmill. Of course, staring at Carlos's gorgeous body glistening with sweat as he sparred with Lester, who is definitely close in the sexy department, was an added benefit.

We showered together on seven, have to conserve water you know, and had breakfast before heading down to begin our workday. I arrived on five to a fantastic surprise. Sometime between the end of my workday on Monday evening and Tuesday morning, the room that shared a bathroom with Carlos's office, that was once storage, became my new office. I tried to insist that I was fine in my cubicle, but Carlos insisted that I needed more room so that I could bring the baby with me to work after he was born. I couldn't help it, I cried. It was just so sweet, and the fact that he was so excited about our baby just overwhelmed me. I never wanted kids with Joe…ever! What a drastic change my life has taken in the last 7 months since Carlos and I became a couple.

I spent the better part of the morning in meetings and scheduling more meetings for the remainder of the week. After grabbing a quick lunch with Carlos, I spent my afternoon elbow deep in paperwork, filling out specifics for contracts for the new potential clients I had met with, while running searches. My new office actually had two computers. A desktop that I ran the searches on, and a laptop that I was able to work on the contracts on. It is amazing how much more work you can get done when you are working on two computers at the same time.

By 4:30, I was shutting down to rush home to get ready for tonight's dinner. I hadn't had much time to think about it during my hectic day, thankfully, and was starting to get nervous. Bobby drove me to my apartment, since I had gone in that morning with Carlos and didn't have a vehicle with me. Plus, the guys were hesitant to let me go out by myself. Even though there had been no threats against me, they hadn't been aware of the threat DeSalva posed, and they weren't taking any chances. I wasn't prepared to object…yet.

After Bobby walked me up and then reassured me that everything was going to be okay, he gave me a hug and left and I headed to the shower to get ready for dinner. I put on an electric blue dress that hugged my belly. It was that dress I had for those days when I had to dress up but felt bloated, so thankfully it wasn't too tight on me. I mean, it was completely obvious that I was pregnant, but I was ok with that. After all, the whole reason for the dinner was to announce to our families we were having a baby.

Carlos came home at 6:15 and apologized that he was running behind. He showered faster than I believe he has ever showered before and was dressed in a blue button up shirt that was extremely close to the color of my dress and dark, charcoal dress pants that hugged his incredible ass. I swear, the pregnancy hormones are killing me and if I didn't know the kind of grief I would get from my mother if we were late or didn't show, I would give in to those hormones right now.

With a wolf grin and a passionate kiss, Carlos whispered "Later" in my ear as he placed his hand on the small of my back and led me out the door. Damn ESP.

We arrived at Rossini's right at 7 and judging by the cars in the parking lot, both of our families were here. I took a deep, shaky breath as Carlos came to my side of the car to help me out. He pulled me into his arms as I stepped out of the car and with a comforting hug he promised me everything was going to be ok.

We were led to the back room in Rossini's where our families had gathered and I had barely stepped in the door when I heard my mother gasp and drop her wine glass. Everyone turned and stared at Carlos and I and I couldn't help but lower my head like I had just shamed my entire family. Carlos very gently lifted my chin with his finger and kissed me sweetly on the mouth offering me silent encouragement. Then he turned back to the crowd staring at us and announced, "We're having a baby".

**Carlos' POV**

"Way to state the obvious, Soldier," I thought to myself. It seemed like time stood still for a moment and then as if someone hit the fast forward and volume up buttons, Mama and Papa were instantly surrounding Steph and me taking turns embracing us and wishing us their congratulations.

My siblings and their significant others were beaming at us and seemed so excited as they took turns hugging me and Steph. My sisters all took a turn rubbing Steph's belly and asking her how she was feeling. Celia gave us both a wink, knowing there was more news to come and with a kiss on our cheeks, went back to the table to sit with her children.

The entire time we were being greeted and congratulated by my family, Steph's family hadn't moved. Her mother looked pale, like she might pass out on the spot, her sister had a smug look on her face, and her father looked as indifferent as always. The only one who seemed truly happy about it all was her Grandma Mazur. She came over to us after my family had allowed us to come up for air and wrapped her chicken arms around Steph and mock whispered how happy she was. She also told Steph she could tell her all about "my package" when there weren't so many people around. With a wink, she went back to her seat.

Steph took an unsure step toward her parents and then reached over for my hand. I knew she was nervous about their reaction and I didn't want to cause any more distress than she had already dealt with the last few weeks. I also knew there was no way I was going to let her mother say one negative word about this situation. We were both happy, and that was all the mattered. I noticed that my Mama kept looking back and forth between my Babe and her family. I'm sure by now she had figured out that maybe this wasn't the best news to them.

We moved closer to the table and with a deep breath, Steph said, "Mom?"

Helen Plum just stared at her. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, which is a first for me, I usually read people quite well.

"Stephanie," Helen stated and then took a deep breath. She lowered her voice and whispered, "What are the neighbors going to think? You aren't married!"

Steph seemed to straighten her spine and stated, "I don't care what they think."

Helen gasped but no more words came. Frank looked back and forth between Steph and me and then spoke. I knew what he was going to say before the words even came out of his mouth. "Do you know what the sex is yet?"

Steph looked at me and with a weak smile gave me one of my own discreet nods. I looked at the table filled with my family and Steph's and proudly announced, "Yes. We're having a boy!"

Cheers erupted from the table. Frank looked at both of us stone faced for a moment and then broke into a huge grin as he walked over and hugged Steph and whispered, "Congratulations, Pumpkin! I can't wait to meet my Grandson."

Helen sat there looking like a goldfish, but didn't say anything. I didn't even hear her mutter a 'Why me?'

Surprisingly, Valerie looked a little put out about the whole situation. Of course, I guess considering she had four girls, it was possible she was slightly jealous.

We took our seats at the table and everyone chatted politely while the wait staff took orders and brought drinks. My Mama was the first one to speak up.

"Carlos, Stephanie, when are you due?" Steph grinned at her and replied back "September, I'm about 26 weeks now".

Mama then asked, "Who is your doctor?" Steph took a deep breath and spared a quick glance to Celia who was smiling. Before Steph could answer, Celia chimed in and said, "I am, Mama".

"Celia! You've known all this time and didn't tell us," Mama said in mock exasperation. Then with a smile, turned to Steph and said, "At least you are in good hands."

My Babe smiled and nodded. I could feel her relaxing somewhat beside me. The chatter continued through dinner, though not much came from the Plum side. Although, Grandma Mazur did get in a few of her usual zingers that made my Babe blush, and made me thankful she was across the table out of reach.

Alicia had sat next to Steph and seemed to enjoy getting to know her. This was their first time meeting as Alicia and Tomas hadn't made it home for New Year's Eve. They discussed some business and Steph surprised me again with all she knew from school.

They discussed ad schedules and campaigns that seemed to be effective, she even seemed to shock Tomas with her knowledge of public relations and the benefits of being proactive instead of reactive in that respect. I just watched her win my family over once again with pride in the fact that she was mine.

As we were enjoying dessert, Helen Plum seemed to come out of her fog and joined the conversation.

"I hope you aren't bounty hunting anymore, Stephanie. You weren't very good in the first place and with this baby to consider, I hope you are being more cautious."

Steph seemed to just stare at her for a moment. She had spent at least 20 minutes discussing with my Mama what she was doing around the office since she had restricted herself from chasing skips.

Before she exploded on her Mother, Frank chimed in. "Helen, weren't you paying any attention? My Pumpkin stopped chasing the bad guys when she found out she is pregnant and now she is practically running RangeMan." He turned to wink at me as he finished.

"Daddy, I'm not running it, I'm just working with the business side more. It is safer for me and the baby."

"Call it what you want, Pumpkin, but I've been hearing lots of good things about RangeMan in the past few months. And knowing how long you've been on the 'inside' convinces me you've had a hand in that."

"You're right, Frank," I added. "Steph has been invaluable to the company and our clients have never been happier. They love working with her."

Helen Plum just stared at me. I wasn't making it easy for her to harp on Steph. Then Valerie chimed in.

"So when are you getting married?"

Steph glanced at me before answering, "We are taking things one step at a time. This baby doesn't effect how Carlos and I feel about each other. We love each other. Whether we are married or not, we will still love each other. But for now, we aren't planning a wedding."

Helen gasped and crossed herself. For Christ sake, you would think my Babe just swore at a nun.

"Stephanie, I know I raised you better than that."

Then Mama spoke up to save the day once again. "Ricardo and I didn't get married until Elena was a year old. We had been in love for years before I got pregnant, but had only committed ourselves to each other for a few months. We knew she wouldn't change how we felt about each other and we both refused to get married only because I was having a baby. We wanted to get married because we knew that we didn't want to spend the rest of our lives without each other. I was always so grateful at how supportive Rosa was of our decision."

Abuela turned and winked at me. At least my family was being supportive. I just felt badly for my Babe. I never expected her to fire at her mother the way she did.

"Mom, Grandma told me that you and Daddy weren't married when you got pregnant with Valerie. It is far more accepted these days to have a baby and not be married than it was 32 years ago. And Grandma didn't pester you about getting married. Did you marry Daddy only because you were pregnant?"

Helen did her best goldfish before speaking up. "Of course not. I married your father because I loved him."

"Then why can't you allow Carlos and I to do the same? I'm not saying that we won't ever get married, but to be honest, we haven't even discussed it. He loves me and I love him. We are having a baby. The rest will come when it is meant to. I've had enough to deal with the last few months, and enough stress to last me a lifetime. I don't need the stress of putting together a wedding while I'm still pregnant. I'm scared as hell to be a Mom. I would like to just focus on that for right now."

"Mrs. Plum, I assure you that I love Stephanie more than I have ever loved anyone in my entire life. I'm not going anywhere. She and I will raise our son together, married or not. But for the health of Steph and our baby, I will not tolerate anymore badgering about a wedding or anything else. We would love your support, but if you can't offer it, we will have no trouble staying away until after the baby is born." I was not going to let my Babe to continue to stress about being around her family.

Again with the goldfish impression. Valerie seemed shocked that I spoke to her mother that way as well, as she was sporting the same expression. Grandma Mazur had a huge grin and Frank looked like he was trying not to smile. Steph reached under the table and squeezed my thigh.

"Of course I'll be supportive," Helen said. "I just want you to be happy."

"We are happy," Stephanie said as she squeezed my thigh again.

"Then I won't say another word…well, I'll try really, really hard not to," Helen said with a smile.

The air seemed to get about ten pounds lighter and Steph's shoulders finally relaxed entirely for the first time all evening. My Mama looked at me and smiled, and I knew that no matter what, everything was going to work out. As long as I had my Babe and our baby, things would be okay.

The talking continued for another half an hour, and Steph's family even joined in more on the conversation. Stephanie laughed her full laugh and she seemed to glow as she talked with my family and hers. I was relieved that she seemed to have finally fully relaxed for the first time since she has been back home. The evening wound down and we all gathered our things to leave. I paid the bill and headed to the parking lot where Steph was saying goodbye to everyone. Frank took my hand and told me to take care of his Pumpkin and his Grandson. I assured him that I would and we all got into our vehicles and headed home. All in all, I would say it was a very successful evening.

**TBC…**

_**Author's Note: Ok folks…I'm winding down. We are going to skip a little time and then it will be the arrival of the newest RangeMan. Thoughts? Things you'd like to see? I've been lacking motivation lately and some input would really help encourage me to finish up. Much appreciated! Amy**_


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: Any characters you don't recognize are mine. All the rest…not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. **

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: So sorry for the delay. My twins turned 5 this week, and my parents came in from out of state to spend the week with us. I normally write at night when everyone is asleep so I can focus, but my parents were sleeping in my bedroom, where my computer is. Hence the delay. Thanks for sticking with me. I also just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who takes the minute or so it takes to leave a review. It really means a lot to me to know what you think. Also, thanks to my Beta, Cristi0819! You are the best. **

_Previously: _

_The talking continued for another half an hour, and Steph's family even joined in more on the conversation. Stephanie laughed her full laugh and she seemed to glow as she talked with my family and hers. I was relieved that she seemed to have finally fully relaxed for the first time since she has been back home. The evening wound down and we all gathered our things to leave. I paid the bill and headed to the parking lot where Steph was saying goodbye to everyone. Frank took my hand and told me to take care of his Pumpkin and his Grandson. I assured him that I would and we all got into our vehicles and headed home. All in all, I would say it was a very successful evening. _

**Ch. 22**

_Two and a half months later…(early August)_

**Steph's POV**

I can't believe Carlos's birthday is next week. I would love to throw him a party to celebrate, but currently, I feel like I'm dying. I'm 8 months pregnant and this has to be the HOTTEST DAMN SUMMER Trenton has ever seen. I swear, I'm not even cool in a cold shower. Of course, I don't know why I should be surprised, Carlos himself is a heater, so why wouldn't I be burning up carrying around his mini-me?

We have had long, drawn out discussions about names over ice cream and tastycakes…ok, so I was the only one eating the ice cream and tastycakes, but don't judge, I'm eating for two. Granted, both seem to give me horrible heartburn. Which leads me to believe that the mini-me in my belly might have tastes similar to his Daddy's, but I digress, I just can't help it. I NEED sugar. My hormones are already at their peak thanks to being pregnant, and I don't think Carlos could keep up with me if I cut out sugar all together. Although, it might be fun to test that theory.

Things have been going so well the last few months. Since we announced my pregnancy to our families, Maria has called at least once a week to check on me and shocker of all shockers…so has my mother! We have gone to Newark for dinner every other week and I have come to love Carlos's family dynamic even more. Of course, we see Celia often as well, with her being my OBGYN. We have had appointments every two weeks for the last month or so, and I just recently started to be monitored. My amniotic fluid level is on the high side. While I have been assured there is nothing to worry about, they have been monitoring me just to be on the safe side. I have a feeling Carlos might have had something to do with that, but I haven't gotten a confession out of him yet.

I don't mind the monitoring though. Celia and I are usually able to grab either lunch or a snack after my appointments, depending on her schedule. It gives us time to talk and I really love the relationship we have developed. She and I are closer than Valerie and I have ever been and I feel like that sisterly void has been filled now. Valerie and I were never close growing up, and though we have gotten closer since she moved back to Trenton, we are just far too different. Valerie stays home and is happy doing so. I could never be a stay at home Mom. Granted, I never thought I wanted to be a Mom period, so perhaps I could adjust to staying home if I were forced to, but thankfully Carlos would never force me to do something that he and I both know would make me miserable.

Celia understands that as well. She loves being a doctor as much as she loves her daughters. She would never give either up, having a career or being a mom. Her now official ex, Charles, never understood that. He wanted her to stay home and raise the girls while he worked, but then we he lost his job and was forced to stay home he hated it so much that he left them. Celia constantly tells me how lucky I am to have someone that supports me and loves me just how I am, and I know that she is right.

As for getting married, we've talked about it. Almost as much as we've talked about baby names, and while we have finally agreed on a baby name, we haven't agreed about marriage yet. Carlos wants to get married and he wants to do it right away, before our little Manoso arrives on the scene. I, on the other hand, feel like a beached whale and am hot naked. There is no convincing me to put on a huge, white tent any time in the near future. But one thing is certain, I want him to be my husband and he wants me to be his wife. All the rest, we will just have to wait and see.

We have gone to dinner at my parents' house a few times since our big announcement too, though not with the regularity of the Manoso family dinners. It is still slightly awkward for me, and without fail my mother has managed to hint at getting married before the baby arrives every time, which makes me even more reluctant to subject myself to a Plum family dinner.

Valerie has also been acting weird. She doesn't seem very happy for Carlos and I. She also seems quite snippy with her girls, which is somewhat out of character for her. I hope it is just the summer heat getting to her, but I have a feeling it might have something to do with the fact that my baby is a boy and Daddy can't quit gushing about finally having a grandson.

As I said before, it is Carlos's birthday in about five days and since I currently feel like I'm dying, standing directly in front of the air conditioner with it set as cold as it can go and blowing full blast, Ella and Maria are going to plan the party. I feel like a terrible girl friend, I can't call myself fiancée since he hasn't officially asked me yet, but there is nothing I can do about it. I simply don't have the energy to plan a party, especially since I'm still working nearly full time.

Carlos has begged me several times to either cut back to part time or go ahead and start maternity leave, but being the stubborn person that I am, I just can't do it. First of all, I know they need me at work. In just the last couple months, RangeMan has grown exponentially. I have helped to secure nearly 20 new accounts, the staff has grown by 5 full time workers, and we have our standard contract workers covering any deficiency we might have. Unfortunately, the contract workers don't have a desire to work full time. They make enough money working sporadically and don't want to commit to the strict regimen that RangeMan employees must adhere to. And, Carlos doesn't hire someone without extensive background checks, physicals, a variety of skill tests and the vote of the core team…well, I guess I didn't have to go through all that, but I seem to be the exception not the rule.

While we could do with about 4 more new hires, they just haven't come through yet. So, I have taken up even more slack in the "administrative" department. I handle all facets of the schedule, all invoices now come through me and we have a new system set up for tracking working hours and how we bill to each account. All of the new accounts came in at a higher fee scale, thanks to other components I thought would be beneficial to offer. The company's profits are soaring and Carlos couldn't be happier. Well, I suppose he could be if he wasn't working his ass off, but that seems to be the price you pay for success. I have also been making service calls to all of our customers, many of which I have managed to up-sell with our newer services and have raised their fees. All of this, of course, requires mountains of paperwork. I spend a great deal of my time in the office hammering out contracts, while maintaining a constant flow of searches on my desktop computer.

I don't even want to think about what is going to happen when I have the baby. We currently have no replacement for me, and while I will be available to answer questions, all of my day-to-day handlings will be left with no one. I'm on the hunt for a fill in, someone who could possibly become a full time employee to help me manage it all, but so far, I've had no luck.

Today, though, I can't worry about it. Ella and I are meeting Maria after my monitoring appointment to discuss Carlos's party this weekend. It is supposed to be a surprise, but since my Batman knows everything, I'm sure he has already figured it out. Oh well, as long as he has a good time, I will be happy.

**Carlos's POV**

My Babe thinks she is going to get the jump on me this weekend with a surprise birthday party. Little does she know, she is the one who is actually going to be surprised. Yes, Ella and Mama have been planning a party, but it isn't just for my birthday, it is also a surprise baby shower, and they have been planning it with Helen Plum. I was surprised she wanted to be involved, but Mama has told me time and again that it was actually Helen's idea, and that it was her idea to have it in Newark, since I have more family that would be attending than they do and it would be easier for everyone if it was there. I can't wait to see the look on her face when we walk into Miguel's, a local Cuban restaurant, and instead of there being birthday decorations everywhere, "It's a Boy" banners and balloons will be everywhere.

**Steph's POV**

It is finally Saturday afternoon. I'm not sure if Carlos has caught on to what we have planned yet, but I'm so excited to be going out to celebrate his birthday tonight with his family and our friends. He deserves a night that is all about him. He works so hard and does so much for me that he needs to be celebrated. He deserves to be celebrated. Maria called a few days ago to "invite us to dinner" at Miguel's, a Cuban restaurant in Newark. She said they had a big banquet room in the back that would easily hold the Manoso clan and all of the RangeMan staff that was off duty.

I had picked out a gray pencil skirt that hit my knees and a blue, silky wrap top that didn't do a very good job of hiding the basketball stomach I'm sporting these days, but really accentuated my eyes. I'm hoping it makes my eyes pop enough that the attention goes there instead of to my stomach. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying being pregnant. I haven't gained much weight and the guys all assure me that from behind you can't even tell I'm pregnant, but I want today to be about Carlos, not about the baby. Pretty soon, our lives are going to revolve around our little RangeMan, and while I am excited for that to happen, I just need for today to not be baby related at all.

Carlos came into the bathroom as I was adding the finishing touches to my makeup and I had to use the back of my hand to catch the drool. He looked absolutely edible. He was wearing a pair of charcoal gray dress slacks that fit perfectly and a short sleeve, blue button up shirt. If I hadn't known better, I would say we had planned to dress the same. I could help but laugh out loud at the two of us.

"Ready, Babe?" Carlos asked me with a hint of a smile on his lips. I could tell that he thought the fact that we practically matched was hilarious.

"Yes, let me just grab my bag," I said as we headed to the living room and then out the door.

Tucked inside my purse was the gift I bought him. He is a tough man to buy for considering he has everything. I had noticed that his business card holder was practically falling apart, and while I knew it was small, I thought a nice, new cardholder would be perfect. I bought him something else, but since it also had to do with the baby, I didn't want to give it to him today. The cardholder was platinum and had his initials engraved on the outside. On the inside, behind where the cards will sit, in a smaller script it says, 'Love, Babe'.

His other gift is a beautiful shadow box, with "My Daddy the Hero" written across the top, and a place for a photo of Carlos and the baby, and then in different sections below, places for many of his medals. Not all of them, of course, as he has so many, but I thought we could display several of the medals he has worked so hard to earn. The present is wrapped and in the bottom drawer of my night stand for me to give to him on his actual birthday.

We rode to the restaurant in silence, although a comfortable silence. I have gotten used to Carlos's "zone" and it allowed me some time to relax before the evening's festivities. I hope he will be surprised and that he will enjoy his birthday party.

**Carlos's POV**

We pulled into the parking lot of Miguel's and I noticed that my Babe stiffened. It only took her a couple seconds longer than me to pick out her parents' car. I know she wouldn't think they were invited to my birthday party and it was confirmed when she thought out loud, "What are they doing here?"

I took her hand and helped her out of the Mercedes. We hadn't been driving the Turbo much recently as it had become more difficult for her to get in and out of it, because it sat so low to the ground. I guided her, with my hand on the small of her back, into the restaurant. The moment we stepped inside, everyone shouted surprise. Only, the surprise wasn't what my Babe had expected. Instead of happy birthday banners and balloons, there were banners that announced, "It's A Boy" and baby blue balloons filled the space.

I was certainly not expecting what came next. Steph looked at me with tears in her eyes and whispered, "Excuse me" and then turned and practically ran into the bathroom. I looked back at the now silent crowd and just shook my head and gave a slight shrug. I had no idea what would have caused her to run away.

**Steph's POV**

I know it was silly, but I just couldn't stop crying. I had wanted so badly to be able to just celebrate Carlos's birthday. It isn't that I'm not excited about having this baby, I really am. Much happier than I ever thought I would be about having a baby when I wasn't married first, but I just wanted this day to not be about the baby.

Carlos does so much for me and I wanted to do this for him. Even though I lacked energy to plan it all myself, I thought I had made it clear to Ella and Maria how important this was to me.

Considering the room was full of our family and friends, I could only guess who had come into the bathroom. I only knew it wasn't Carlos, as I wasn't getting the feeling I get from him when he is in the room.

"Stephanie?"

Huh? Really? "Mom?"

"Dear, are you alright?"

I tried to control the tears that were falling down my face and managed to get them down to a slight sniffle before I answered, "Yep. Fine. Be out in a minute."

"Dear, you are no better a liar now than you were as a child. Come out and talk to me…please?"

Damnit, she knew how well please worked on me. I took another minute or so to get myself under control and stepped out of the stall and joined my mother on the bench by the counters.

"Why are you hiding in the bathroom?" My mother asked me.

"I'm not hiding really. I just didn't want everyone to watch me cry."

"Ok, why are you crying?"

A let go of a deep, heavy sigh. "It is silly, but I just wanted this day to be all about Carlos. He deserves to be celebrated and I wanted to celebrate him. I didn't want the focus to be on the baby. I know it is silly, but it is what I wanted. I thought I made that clear to Ella and Maria when they were helping me to plan it."

My mother looked slightly sheepish. "I'm afraid, then, that you are crying because of me…again."

I looked at her for her to continue.

"The baby shower was my idea. We are getting closer and closer to your due date, and no one had planned a shower for you. I wanted to help to do that. I suggested it be this weekend and even though Ella and Maria protested at first, I convinced them. It seems I am just as stubborn as you are about getting my way," she said with a smile.

I couldn't believe that my Mom had gone to Ella and Carlos's mother to work with them to plan a shower. Normally she would have just planned it herself, and been adamant that it be in Trenton so she wouldn't have to travel far and then expect me to come just because she told me to. I can't believe that she worked with them to plan it and agreed to have it in Newark.

My Mom's words brought me out of my musings. "I just wanted to try to make up for all of the things that I've done wrong. I haven't been very supportive of you and for that, I'm incredibly sorry. I'm not sure why I care what others think. I guess I just have for so long, that now it is difficult not to worry about it. I promise to try to do better. I really want to be an active part of my grandson's life. I want to be apart of your life, Stephanie. I know you are going to be an amazing mother. Please, Stephanie, don't make me miss out on seeing it."

I couldn't help it, I started crying again. I had never expected my mother to tell me I was going to be a good mom, let alone an amazing one. I was crying my happy tears, when Carlos joined us in the bathroom. As soon as he saw that I was "still" crying, he gave my mother a look that would make a weaker person wet themselves. I turned to my mother, before either of them could speak and hugged her. I told her, "Of course you are going to be a part of our lives, Mom. I promise."

With that I heaved myself up off the bench and waddled to the sink to splash a little water on my face and clean myself up a bit. My Mom excused herself, leaving just Carlos and me in the bathroom. He came over to the sink and placed a gentle kiss on my temple. "Are you okay, Babe?"

I nodded and turned to him and smiled. "This just isn't what I was expecting to walk into. I wanted to celebrate you today and not put all of our focus on the baby."

"Our son is already a part of our lives, Babe. I am excited to celebrate his upcoming birth. Knowing that my son, our son, is growing inside of you is the best gift you could give me. I don't need a party. In fact, I'm honored to share my birthday party with our son."

I had to take deep breaths to keep from tearing up again. Damn pregnancy hormones. I finally got myself steady and allowed Carlos to lead me out to join the party. And what a party it was. It turns out everyone brought baby gifts and gifts for Carlos's birthday. So while it wasn't what I had originally planned, it ended up better. Carlos and I left a little overwhelmed with all of the baby doodads and gadgets, both a little unsure what some of them were even for. Tuning in to Carlos's ESP wavelength, we both looked at each other and said at the same time, I think we need a bigger place.

**TBC…**

_**Author's Note: Ok…next chapter should be the birth of the baby, unless my muse takes me in another direction. Thoughts…new place before or after baby arrives? What else would you like to see? I'm thinking two, maybe three more chapters and the story will be complete. Speak now or forever hold your peace. **_


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: Any characters you don't recognize are mine. All the rest…not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. **

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: This update has taken a little longer than I hoped, but this chapter was important to me and I wanted to get it perfect. I hope I don't disappoint. Thanks for sticking with me. I also just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who takes the minute or so it takes to leave a review. It really means a lot to me to know what you think. Also, thanks to my Beta, Cristi0819! You are the best. **

_Previously: _

_I had to take deep breaths to keep from tearing up again. Damn pregnancy hormones. I finally got myself steady and allowed Carlos to lead me out to join the party. And what a party it was. It turns out everyone brought baby gifts and gifts for Carlos's birthday. So while it wasn't what I had originally planned, it ended up better. Carlos and I left a little overwhelmed with all of the baby doodads and gadgets, both a little unsure what some of them were even for. Tuning in to Carlos's ESP wavelength, we both looked at each other and said at the same time, I think we need a bigger place. _

Ch. 23

_Two weeks after the shower/birthday party…_

**Steph's POV**

I seriously don't think it is physically possible for me to get any bigger! Of course, I felt the same way about two months ago and I defied those odds. I'm just hoping that once the baby is born, I'll be able to get my body back at least close to what it was before. Carlos assures me that he will help me, and while helping me while in bed sounds very appealing, the running and exercising he has been suggesting is enough to give me nightmares.

I have had to go to fetal monitoring twice a week for the last couple of weeks because of my amniotic fluid levels. They are considerably higher than normal and there is a chance that the baby could move around too much and end up getting the cord stuck around his neck. So far, he looks fine, but they are keeping a close eye on things. I wasn't too keen on all the monitoring until Celia told me all the possibilities of things that could go wrong because of the fluid level. After that I found myself wanting to ask to be monitored daily, but refrained.

Carlos only lets me work a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening now that I'm so close to my due date. I don't mind so much as I'm exhausted most of the time, and who wouldn't be exhausted hauling around this gigantic belly? So I spend my down time doing a little deep breathing and napping. My blood pressure has also been a little elevated these last couple of weeks, probably in part because I'm scared of all the things that could go wrong, so I try to remind myself to stay calm, but it is easier said than done.

Today, Bobby and I are going out to lunch. We haven't had a lot of time together the last couple months, as I've been busy with my new duties at RangeMan and he and Lexie have started seeing each other. I'm so happy for both of them. They really do seem perfect for each other. He hasn't introduced her to his parents yet for fear his Dad might scare her away, but I keep trying to reassure him that he is worth sticking around for, scary parent or not. So, we are meeting his parents at Pino's for lunch and he is going to tell them about her. I'm going for moral support and a meatball sub. I haven't had one in days!

Bobby and I were waiting at Pino's for his parents when I got the first twinge in my stomach. I assumed it was hunger at first, because the smells coming from the kitchen were killing me. I had been in meetings the majority of the morning, much to Carlos's displeasure, and hadn't had a snack. I did sign a huge new account for us, which was great, but now I was regretting not pausing for a snack. I was starving! His parents were already five minutes late and I was beginning to get impatient. Not to mention, it had to be the hottest end to August that Trenton had ever seen and it was absolutely stifling in Pino's.

"Bobby, are you as hot as I am right now?"

"No, Bomber, it feels pretty good in here to me. You feeling okay?"

"Just really hungry and hot!"

"How about I go see if Pino has any breadsticks and I'll give Mom a call to see what the hold up is?"

"Sounds great, and can you grab me another water? I'm so thirsty."

A couple of minutes later and my hero arrived with a pitcher of ice water to refill my glass and a basket of breadsticks. I refilled my glass and downed it in two gulps, and then moved on to a breadstick while Bobby filled my glass again.

Finally, 15 minutes later, Robert and Judy finally arrived. Bobby stood up to hug his Mom and shake his Dad's hand as they came to the table. I stood to hug Judy and noticed I was a little damp between my legs. After greeting her and Mr. Brown I excused myself to the bathroom. Thankfully I had changed before lunch and was wearing a white cotton skirt and blue tank top, so there was no visible evidence of the dampness on my skirt. I tried desperately to tell if my water had broken or if I had accidentally peed a little, but I couldn't decide. Since there was no visual evidence to humiliate me, I decided not to abandon Bobby and stick it out through lunch. I also decided I wasn't going back to work today and would head home for a shower and nap as soon as we were finished eating.

I cleaned myself up the best I could, splashed a little water on my face to try to calm my hot flashes and headed back to the table. Half way back to the table, I felt another twinge in my stomach, this one stronger than the last and it caused me to pause. I took a deep breath and continued on, but my pause did not go unnoticed by Bobby, or his mother.

"How are you feeling dear?" Judy asked. "Bobby told us you were due in just a couple of weeks, is that right?"

"Yes, my due date is mid-September and I can't wait. I feel like a whale and if the heat doesn't die down soon, I'm going to start spending my days in a cool bath," I said with a chuckle.

"Oh, I remember that feeling," Judy said. "Bobby was born at the end of a very hot summer, too. I would walk around with cold cloths around my neck and as little clothes as I could get away with," she laughed as Bobby grimaced. It is never any fun to picture your parent not wearing much clothing.

"Oh my gosh…that's right! I almost forgot, tomorrow is your birthday, Bobby. Oh, I would have felt terrible if I hadn't remembered. Thank you so much for the reminder, Judy."

Mr. Brown looked a little sheepish as if he had forgotten too and he noticed that I noticed the look on his face. When I didn't comment on it, he gave me a look of gratitude. I figured this was the perfect time to segue way into our conversation on Lexie.

"So, Bobby, any big plans tomorrow to celebrate?"

He gave me a look and then after a deep breath answered. "Yes, Lexie and I are going out to dinner and dancing. She likes to dance as much as I do and she thought it would be fun if we went to the club we went to on our first date."

Judy chimed in and asked, "Lexie? Who is Lexie?"

"Lexie is the woman I've been seeing. She is a co-worker and we've been dating for the last couple of months. We have a lot in common and I honestly see it getting serious between us." Bobby answered.

I smiled and then gasped as another twinge hit me. Okay, I'm beginning to think this might be more than just hunger pangs. Bobby grabbed my hand and with worry on his face, asked "Bomber?"

"I'm okay Bobby, just a little twinge in my stomach. I'm just hungry." I figure I might as well live in denial a little longer.

I sat and listened to Bobby talk to his parents about Lexie and their relationship. If I didn't know that bad asses didn't do giddy, I would say he sounded giddy describing her to them. Mr. Brown asked questions and tried to participate in the conversation, but it was also hard to miss the scowl on his face. I'm not sure what he had to be so unhappy about. His son was happy, wasn't that what mattered?

I picked through my lunch, only eating half of my sub, which was totally out of the norm for me. Bobby kept glancing at me with concern written all over his face. Every time I would squeeze his hand in response, trying to reassure him that I was okay. In truth, I am pretty sure I'm in labor. I keep getting a tightening in my belly that reaches all the way around to my back and each one is accompanied by a hot flash. I didn't want to ruin this lunch because for the most part, it seemed to be going pretty well, but finally I couldn't stand it any more.

"Bobby? I think I need to go."

"But sweetie, you said you were starving and you didn't even eat half your lunch," Judy stated with concern in her voice.

"I know, I'm just not feeling very well and think I better be heading home."

As I pushed on the table in an attempt to slide my chair back so I could stand up, I caused the drinks to wobble and my glass went over causing my water to spill all over Mr. Brown.

"Son of a …" Mr. Brown started before Judy smacked him in the arm stopping the swear word on his lips.

"I'm so very sorry," I tried to apologize. Unfortunately, the scowl on his face didn't go away and I figured I had solidified myself on his list of people that he didn't approve of. Oh well, a lot of people don't approve of me so it is nothing new.

We made our way out of Pino's after Bobby had paid for lunch. We had just rounded the corner for the parking lot and were saying our goodbyes when I felt a strong pain and then…the floodgates opened. And not only did they open, but they opened all over Mr. Brown's very expensive looking shoes.

He looked down and with a look of mortification on his face, he passed out and fell into the puddle of amniotic fluid at my feet. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, I was so embarrassed. Another pain in my abdomen shook me out of my stupor and I looked up at Bobby and said, "I think it might be time."

Bobby stared at me in shock before Judy touched his elbow and said to me with a smile, "Dear, I think you might be right."

Bobby grabbed his phone of his belt and dialed 911. His Dad was still unconscious at my feet and I was standing still, still mortified that his father was lying in my amniotic fluid. Just then I felt the baby shift and another gush of fluid fell onto the ground and Mr. Brown.

"OH MY GOD!" I shouted as a huge pain ripped through my stomach. Just before I doubled over to the ground in pain, Bobby grabbed me by my arms keeping me mostly upright.

"Come on, Bomber. Let's get you to the hospital. Mom, you'll stay with Dad until the ambulance arrives?"

Judy answered, "Of course, sweetie. Just take care of Stephanie."

"Please tell Mr. Brown I'm so sorry," I said with tears pouring down my face.

"Don't worry about him, dear. It will teach him to make such a big deal over a little spilt water," Judy answered.

We all stood still for a moment and then couldn't help but laugh. I was still laughing as we made our way to the car but stopped when another pain rushed through me causing my breath to catch.

"Ok, Bomber, how long have you been having contractions?"

"I'm not sure, but I've felt sort of off all day and have been having twinges since we got here. I guess I didn't realize they were contractions."

"Ok, let's go."

We loaded into the car and headed toward St. Francis. Bobby called Ranger and Celia as he navigated the streets. Thankfully, Celia had gotten privileges at St. Francis, because I really didn't want to go all the way to Princeton. I love Bobby, but I really didn't want him delivering my baby in the SUV. I didn't want him delivering my baby at all.

I had been at the hospital for a little over an hour before Celia arrived. I had been checked and was dilated to four centimeters and was 75 percent effaced, and they had started an IV. Carlos had arrived shortly after we did and had set up a couple of the guys outside the door. He was currently pacing at the foot of the bed.

"Celia, it's about time. What took you so long?" Carlos asked her with agitation clear in his voice.

"I got here as quickly as I could. I was in the middle of a delivery when Bobby called. Thankfully it was the woman's fourth child and it went quickly. You need to relax. This is Stephanie's first baby and it will most likely take a while."

And boy was she telling the truth. I had started feeling pains, which were most likely contractions around 11:30 in the morning. We were pushing 10:30 at night and I was finally fully dilated and 100 percent effaced. I had opted for the epidural when I just couldn't stand the pain anymore. I tried to make it all the way through, but I was at a 7 and each contraction took my breath away and seemed to last forever. Celia convinced me that it was ok and wouldn't do any harm to the baby. After that I felt much better, but it seemed to slow down my progress. It seemed to take forever to get all the way to a 10.

Carlos had calmed down thankfully and was being incredibly sweet and supportive. I wanted to rip his head off. He only looked at me a couple of times like I had grown another head and managed to take my ranting and raving that this was NEVER happening again with stride. After the epidural I just wanted to kiss him and he was happy to oblige.

We finally got into position to push. Carlos sat at the head of the bed to help support me through the pushes. We had decided early on that we just wanted us and medical personnel in the delivery room. I didn't think I could handle my mother. So there was one nurse on either side of me supporting each of my legs. Celia told me this would help with the pushing, giving more leverage than the standard stirrups.

I had pushed forever. I didn't think I had any more push on me. Our little guy's head was tilted and it was hitting my pubic bone and no matter how hard I tried, he just wouldn't come out. After pushing for about two and a half hours, Celia told me I had one more try and then they were going to have to take me to an operating room and perform a c-section. I can tell you, I had not gone through all of this just to have a c-section.

Carlos kissed my temple and said, "I know you can do it, Babe. One more big push and we can meet our son."

Celia mentioned something about a vacuum, but I'm not sure what she meant. As my next big contraction hit, she told me to push. Carlos pushed forward with me and the nurses pushed against my legs and I pushed for all I was worth. Mid push, Celia told me to stop.

I couldn't help it and screamed, "STOP?" Not even a second later, she said, "Okay, push." I continued to push and mere moments later, Celia confirmed, "It's a boy," as my son screamed his little lungs out.

I started crying and leaned back into Carlos. With emotion in his voice, he kissed my head and whispered, "Proud of you, Babe" into my ear. He moved to cut the cord and my baby was whisked away to be cleaned up while Celia delivered the placenta.

Just a couple of minutes later, I was cleaned up, with a fresh blanket draped over my legs and Carlos beside me as they handed me my son. I couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time as he immediately turned his head and latched on to my breast to nurse.

**TBC…**

_**Author's Note: Ok…almost finished. Just a few loose ends to tie up. Any thoughts? Things you would like to see before I finish the story? Merry Men reaction to baby is coming as well as the name. Stay tuned. **_


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: Any characters you don't recognize are mine. All the rest…not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. **

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: This update has taken a little longer than I hoped, but this chapter was important to me and I wanted to get it perfect. I hope I don't disappoint. Thanks for sticking with me. I also just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who takes the minute or so it takes to leave a review. It really means a lot to me to know what you think. Also, thanks to my Beta, Cristi0819! You are the best. **

_Previously: _

_Just a couple of minutes later, I was cleaned up, with a fresh blanket draped over my legs and Carlos beside me as they handed me my son. I couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time as he immediately turned his head and latched on to my breast to nurse. _

Ch. 24

**Carlos's POV**

My Babe is amazing. The labor was hard on her, but compared to the stories my brothers-in-law have told me over the years, she was very mild compared to my sisters. I have never been so proud of her. She pushed for a really long time, and I was worried that she was going to have to have the c-section. I didn't think she had another push in her, but she proved me wrong as always and made it work.

And our son, he is beautiful. He was born at 12:10 a.m., Sept 1 and weighed in at 7 pounds 2 ounces and was 23 inches long. He was skinny and tall, and his skin was just a shade or two lighter than mine, with dark, silky brown hair and eyes as dark as the night. Most babies are born with blue eyes and they can change with time, and I had truly hoped he would end up with Steph's eyes, but nope, they were mine. He was perfect. And he went straight for the boob, which had me chuckling and Steph laughing and crying at the same time.

We spent about 30 minutes together, enjoying the calm before the storm and telling each other how much we loved one another. I decided I should probably go and inform the troops about our new little RangeMan. Steph was looking exhausted, so I took the baby out of her arms to go and introduce him to the crowd. By now, they should all be in the family waiting room on the maternity floor, so I wouldn't have to go far.

I walked in to a sea of black, my family and Steph's family all waiting. When they saw the bundle in my arms, smiles broke out on every single face. "Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Ricardo Carlos Manoso III. Steph is already calling him Ricky." Helen Plum was the first one to come toward me and the baby and asked, "Can I please hold my grandson." With a small nod, I handed my son over to her.

Flanked by Frank and Edna Mazur, Helen broke into tears telling my son how beautiful he was and how lucky he was to have such a wonderful Mommy. I smiled at that. I think she is finally seeing my Babe how the rest of us do.

My Mama and Papa were next to hold Ricky. Mama commented on how he looked just like me when I was little and she, like everyone else that came into contact with my little guy, couldn't control the tears that fell from her eyes.

Bobby and Lexie took a quick peek at Ricky and then told me they were going to go check in on Stephanie. I warned them that she may still be sleeping as she was pretty exhausted, and with a nod they disappeared. Ricky was oohed and aahed over and finally I got my son back and we headed back to his Mommy.

Bobby and Lexie were still in there, waiting in chairs for Steph to wake up. As I walked through the door, Ricky let out a small little cry and Steph's eyes were instantly open. For someone that it usually takes a cup of coffee and the promise of donuts to become even slightly awake, one little baby cry had her more alert than I had seen her in a long time. She adjusted herself in the bed and reached her arms out for the baby. Handing our son back to her and sitting down at the bottom of the bed I realized that I had never been so happy in my entire life.

Don't get me wrong, I love Julie and I was thrilled when she was born. But I wasn't there for it, and I never felt even close to the amount of love that I have for Steph, for Rachel. This is my family.

**Steph's POV**

I awoke instantly when I heard Ricky cry. For a moment I was disoriented and not quite sure what was going on, but it only lasted seconds and I knew I wanted my baby back in my arms. Carlos handed him to me before sitting down on the bed and then he stared at me. It was a stare that was full of love and hope and…happiness. I don't think I have ever seen Carlos look this completely happy. I know I've never felt this happy before. I feel…I can't even describe how I feel other than perfect.

I looked over and noticed that Bobby and Lexie were in the room as well.

"Hey! Happy birthday, Bobby!"

"Thanks Steph. I always dreaded turning 30, but what a better way to celebrate than be welcoming my new little best bud into the world?"

"Have you gotten to hold him yet?" I asked. When he shook his head no, I lifted him slightly giving him the clue that he was welcome to hold the baby.

When he hesitated, Lexie stood up and quickly took him from me saying, "Here, we can hold him together." Then she sat down in Bobby's lap holding Ricky. Bobby wrapped his arms around her and they both stared at my perfect baby boy. It made me so happy to see my two good friends so happy together. Carlos took that opportunity to climb up the bed and cuddle in next to me, wrapping me in his arms.

Moments later, Celia came in to check on us. She smiled at Carlos and me and then looked over at Bobby and Lexie holding Ricky and smiled again. Then, she filled us in on what we missed with the delivery.

"Ok, guys. We are going to be taking Ricky down to run a few tests. He did really well on his APGAR, scoring an 8 the first test and a 9 on the second one. However, there was meconium in the amniotic fluid so we need to watch for infection."

"Meconium?" I asked.

"It just means that he had passed stool when he was still in utero. There is a small chance he inhaled some into his lungs upon birth, but it looks good that he didn't. Again, we are just going to run a couple of tests to be sure. Also, he isn't showing any signs of low oxygen issues, but the cord was slightly wrapped around his neck when he was delivering, which is why I had you stop pushing."

I saw Carlos visibly pale when she mentioned the cord, and I'm sure I did as well as I felt like I was going to pass out. Carlos recovered first and whispered, "Breathe, Babe" into my ear as his arms tightened around me.

"Like I said," Celia continued, "there are no visible signs that he had any distress. It was wrapped under his arms and around his neck once, and was easy for me to remove. We are going to recheck his oxygen levels and run a couple of blood tests because of the meconium and then we will have him right back to you."

I wasn't very excited about letting the baby out of my sight, but Bobby quickly spoke up and offered to follow Ricky and stay close by while they administered the tests. I was immediately at ease and just minutes after they left the room Carlos and I were sound asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

_**6 months later…**_

**Steph's POV**

The last six months of my life have been amazing. Carlos and I have adjusted to parenting quite well and Ricky truly is a little RangeMan. I went back to work from our apartment just a couple of weeks after he was born. Babies sleep a lot, and I was bored out of my mind. I napped when I needed to, otherwise, I was either on the couch or at the dining room table with my laptop.

I didn't go out to client locations, but I did handle several client issues over the phone and helped to keep RangeMan running smoothly. Carlos was spending a lot more time at home than I had ever expected. He was delegating more, and unless calls were truly urgent, he didn't get called out in the middle of the night much, which was great because he was there to help with Ricky if I needed it. He was very hands on. I was still nursing, so even though he didn't help with feedings unless I pumped, he would help in other ways. He would change Ricky's diaper before I fed him, and sometimes after if we noticed he needed it again. He would give him his baths, which I loved watching, because often times he would climb into the tub with him and hold him as he bathed him. He would rock him, and tell him stories in Spanish. I'm not entirely sure if the stories were about my past antics or not, but whatever they were about, they often had Ricky smiling. He seemed to be truly happy playing the Daddy role, and I know that I could be happier.

After about six weeks, I was back in the office full time and Ricky went with me. He would spend most of the day in a bassinet or swing in my office, and the rest of the time on six with Ella. She claimed he liked watching her cook. With the smells I imagine coming from her kitchen, I couldn't really blame the little guy.

Ricky had the Merry Men wrapped around his finger very quickly. And true to form, he had as many nicknames as I did. Many of the guys called him RC, for Ricardo Carlos. Lester, having to give him his own unique nickname called him Trey, for the "third" part of his name. I thought it was cute. I still called him Ricky. Carlos often called him "Little Man" and whenever possible he would come and steal him from my office. It was no longer shocking to find him covering monitors while holding Ricky. For a guy who I thought would go insane stuck in a building doing a mundane job, he always had a smile on his face, especially when he was holding Ricky.

We still worked hard to make sure we had time for us, too. At least one night a week, either my parents would keep Ricky or Carlos's parents would. It was just often enough for us to rejuvenate and reaffirm our love for one another. After a minor scare when Ricky was only two months old, I got an IUD. While I am positive that at some point I will want to give Ricky a sibling, the idea of two babies only a year apart is not appealing to me. I'm only now finally getting some resemblance of my former figure back.

We decided last month that we wanted to buy a house. We want Ricky to have a yard to run and play in and truth be told, my two-bedroom apartment is slightly cramped for the three of us. Carlos had pulled some listings and we have checked out a few houses, but nothing that we could agree on. Neither of us wanted it in the 'Burg, we wanted it to be easy to secure and we wanted enough space for adding to our family and for Julie to have her own space when she came to visit.

She came to visit us for a week at Christmas, after Ricky was born, and even though it was slightly crowded, she was so happy that we were together and that she had a new little brother. We promised her she could come visit during her summer vacation, so our deadline for getting into a bigger place was quickly approaching.

Tonight was date night for us and Carlos told me it would be a night out. While I tried to convince him that staying in would be perfectly suitable for me (*wink wink), he promised it would be worth going out for. So now, I am rushing through getting ready after dropping off Ricky to Mom and Dad. I was stuck there longer than I had planned to be because I had to calm Daddy down after Grandma came down the stairs in a dress that I would consider too short for a distraction dress, proclaiming she had a date coming for dinner. Needless to say, I wish I had a little brain bleach, and I'm thankful my son is too young to remember it!

At 6 p.m. on the dot I was just finishing applying my lipstick when Carlos entered the apartment. I came around the corner out of the bathroom, and there he stood looking as sexy as ever in his Armani suit, with a black shirt and a black and dark blue tie. God he looked positively yummy. I truly wished he was for dinner.

"Babe," he said with a smirk on his face. Either it was ESP or I said it out loud, but at this point, I didn't care if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Come on, Babe. Reservation's in 30." I turned to grab my purse and when I turned back around he was standing right in front of me. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a bone-melting kiss. "You look gorgeous, Babe." I smiled in response. I had hoped he liked this dress. It was a wrap dress that accentuated my baby curves and was a deep blue that brought out my eyes. My hair had cooperated better than it had in months and my large soft curls fell down around my shoulders.

I told him thank you as he led me out the door. Twenty minutes later we arrived at a new restaurant on the out skirts of Trenton, on the way to Princeton. It was Italian, my favorite, and was called Michelangelo's. I had seen reviews on it in the paper and it got nothing but high praise.

After a dinner of pasta, (can you believe it, Carlos ate pasta too?), and tiramisu for dessert, Carlos and I spent about 30 minutes on the dance floor wrapped in each others arms. It was just past 8:30 when Carlos and I left the restaurant and headed back towards Trenton. We had only been on the road for about 5 minutes, when Carlos turned off on to a side street and then wove through a sub-division filled with huge lots and large houses. A couple of turns later and at the end of a cul-de-sac, was the most beautiful house I had ever seen.

It was surrounded by a block wall with an iron gate that had a security pad next to the entrance. The architecture was old, but elegant, and it was massive. Carlos pulled up to the gate and rolled down the window, quickly entering a code into the keypad. I looked at him with questions written all over my face, but he didn't say anything. He pulled up in the circular drive to just in front of the front door. He stepped out of the car, and came around to help me out. He guided me to the front door and with a key in hand, opened the front door.

We stepped in, and without turning any lights on, he led me to what looked like the living room. It was illuminated with candles on nearly every flat surface, and there was a fireplace roaring in the fire. There was no furniture, only a very comfortable looking rug and about a dozen pillows positioned in front of the fireplace. Taking my hand, Carlos guided me to the rug where he slipped off his shoes before taking my hand and pulling me down onto the rug with him. He slipped my 4-inch FMPs off of my feet and turned me so that I was cuddled up against him, my back to his front facing the fireplace.

He slowly moved his hands up and down my arms and would squeeze me tightly with each pass. I hadn't asked him what this place was or what we were doing here yet, I was trying to wait him out. Moments before the silence literally killed me, he began to speak.

"Babe."

**Carlos's POV**

I can't believe the past six months. My life is finally all I ever dreamed it could be, but was afraid to hope for. I have my Babe, my Little Man and even Julie and I are working on our relationship. I only hope I haven't screwed everything up by making a huge decision for us without consulting Steph first.

As we sat in the silence of the house I bought for us, I thought of all the things I wanted to say to Steph. Finally, I felt her starting to get restless in my arms and decided to speak up.

"Babe." I took a deep breath. Here goes, I thought to myself.

I turned Steph in my arms so that she could see the truth in my eyes. "I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. For years, I fought my attraction to you for fear that I wasn't worthy of all the light and goodness you had in you. I was afraid to let myself be close to you because I didn't think I deserved you. Letting go of that fear and asking you stay with me and be mine was the smartest decision I have made in my entire life. I can't imagine spending my life any other way than with you, Ricky, Julie if she'll let me, and as many more babies as you want to have." I took a breath and noticed Steph's beautiful blue eyes were swimming with unshed tears.

"Steph, I saw this house and immediately thought of you and Ricky. It screamed family to me, and that is what you and Ricky are, you are my family. But I want you as my family by name as well. I want to spend the rest of my life trying to deserve you. I want to be able to call you my wife and know that I am your husband. Please Babe, make me even happier and agree to be my wife."

As the tears fell down Stephanie's I could tell she was running everything I just said through her mind. Before she answered my question, she had one of her own. "You bought this house without me seeing it first?"

I took a deep breath. Dios, I hoped this didn't back fire. "Yes, Babe, I did."

"Why?"

"I was a couple doors down with Hector and Brett overseeing an install for the Hoffman's, you know the new client you secured last month?" With her nod, I continued. "I had noticed the for sale sign in the front when I pulled up and knew instantly that I wanted you to see it. We were just finishing up with Mr. Hoffman and he came out to thank us for our quick service. We started talking about this house and he mentioned what a great deal it was, nearly $300k less than what he paid for his, and that he was sure it was probably going to be sold that day. After we finished talking, I was headed back to the Turbo when I noticed a lady in a suit leaving the house. I approached her and asked if she was the agent. When she confirmed that she was, I asked her if I could see it. She agreed, gave me a tour and I knew that you would love it and that the back yard would be perfect for Ricky when he gets a little bigger. She told me she had a buyer interested and they were just finalizing their financing. I didn't want to risk waiting and losing this house. It has everything we've discussed wanting. So, I offered her asking price, with the first $200k in cash. She called the seller with the offer and it was accepted. It just closed this morning."

I wasn't sure what Stephanie was thinking. She had a look on her face that I didn't quite recognize and for once, she wasn't thinking out loud.

When she finally spoke it wasn't at all what I was expecting. "Just how many more babies did you have in mind?"

I couldn't hold back my smile and I'm sure I blinded her temporarily with the magnitude of it. I had to hear her say the word, so I asked again. "Is that a yes, Babe? Will you please be my wife?"

"Well, since you said please…of course I'll be your wife, Carlos." I hugged her to me as tears leaked from both of our eyes. We spent the rest of the night how I only hope we will spend the rest of our lives. Truly loving each other. Every inch of each other.

**TBC…**

_**Author's Note: Ok…epilogue? Do you want wedding details? Let me know! **_


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: Any characters you don't recognize are mine. All the rest…not mine. I'm just using them for my own personal fun. JE owns them. **

**Warnings: Possible mention of books 1-18**

**Author's Note: This is my final chapter. I took some liberties with Julie's age…who the heck knows how old she should be right now. Thanks for sticking with me and to those who have reviewed and supported me, you are the greatest! Also, thanks to my Beta, Cristi0819! You are the best. **

_Previously: _

"_Well, since you said please…of course I'll be your wife, Carlos." I hugged her to me as tears leaked from both of our eyes. We spent the rest of the night how I only hope we will spend the rest of our lives. Truly loving each other. Every inch of each other. _

Ch. 25 Final Chapter

_**Six months later…**_

If someone told me two years ago that I would be a mother of the most wonderful little boy on the planet and getting ready to marry my Batman, I would have thought they needed to be committed. First of all, I was never having children. Ever! And the thought of Carlos and I getting married, while it occupied my thoughts on more than one occasion, never seemed like a possibility. I guess I should thank psycho Dave. If he hadn't left me those travel vouchers I never would have ended up in Hawaii, I never would have called Carlos for help, and he might never have come out and told me he wanted to be with me. I guess sometimes, psychos are good for something.

Last week we celebrated Ricky's first birthday at our beautiful house. It was a wonderful family affair. All of Carlos's family was able to attend, including Julie, and all of my family was there as well. My Dad, who is incredibly smitten with my little guy, has done an amazing job of conforming my mother. She is pretty head-over-heels for Ricky too. And why wouldn't she be? He is just like his father, the perfect charmer. He has to be the happiest child on the planet. He grins at everyone, all the time, and if it isn't his father's 200-watt smile, I don't know whose it is.

Ricky also just started walking about two weeks ago. He toddled all over the party, reaching up to everyone. No one hesitated to pick him up. He would give a quick cuddle and then instantly want to be put back down. He gets that from Carlos and I both, the boy doesn't like to sit still. I would say the funniest part was when Ricky had his first taste of birthday cake. We had him stripped down to a diaper and he was sitting in his high chair, which was black, of course. We put the little cake in front of him and everyone started singing Happy Birthday. His little face lit up and it was incredibly precious. Carlos was crouched down beside him and I couldn't help but think to myself how incredibly lucky I am.

After the singing, Carlos helped him blow out the candle. We had tried to practice with him, but he just didn't quite get it. He did try spitting at it a couple times, but that didn't work either, although it did get some laughs. Once Carlos removed the candle, Ricky gave the cake a long look, as if trying to decide what it was. Finally after a minute or two, he reached in with both hands and grabbed handfuls of the cake. He brought a fist to his mouth to take a taste. I kid you not, the boy moaned over the birthday cake. The entire party burst into laughter. Carlos looked at me and said, "No doubt who the boy's mom is, Babe." Then, my sweet little boy reached his other fist over to Carlos to share a bite of his birthday cake. I was so glad someone was taking pictures, because watching Carlos take a bite of the offered cake from Ricky was definitely a Kodak moment.

I joined my guys at the high chair and Ricky offered me a bite too. I took a taste, and ok, maybe I moaned too. It was really good cake. With a quick kiss to both of my boys, I continued on with my hosting duties. Thankfully, Ella had helped with all of the food, and between her, my mom, Valerie and myself everyone seemed well taken care of. I gave quick tours of the house to those of Carlos's family that hadn't seen the house yet and kept Julie close by my side, so she could show off her room. She was so excited that she had her very own room in our house. I could tell it made her feel like she definitely was a part of our family.

Ricky was spoiled with tons of gifts, the biggest coming from the Merry Men. Of course, they brought them already assembled, thankfully, and were playing with the toys with him. He is definitely one loved little boy. That night after the party, we shared our news with Julie. She already knew that we were getting married, but she didn't know that we were headed out the next week to Hawaii to do it, and that she was joining us. Luckily for us, the school she attends is a year-round school and they were on their track break, giving us two more weeks with her before she had to head back for her last year of junior high.

We arrived in Hawaii two days ago. We've spent all our time as a family and it has been fantastic. Julie is such a mature 14-year-old, much more mature than I was at that age. We have a villa that we are staying in and thankfully, the rooms that Ricky and Julie are staying in are on the opposite side of the living and kitchen areas as mine and Carlos's room. It is our wedding week after all.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

I can't believe the time has finally arrived. Carlos and Julie are out waiting on the beach for Ricky and me. I am wearing the most beautiful wedding gown ever. I don't think I could have even pictured it before I saw it. It is a slightly off-white silk dress that falls straight down to my ankles. It has spaghetti straps and the neckline goes down into a v that shows off some cleavage but not too much. The best part about having a baby? The fact that my chest grew and didn't go away after he was born. I think Carlos likes that part, too. I chose not to wear any shoes as I didn't want to trip and fall in the sand.

This wedding couldn't be more perfect. Just Carlos, Julie, Ricky and me. It is being videoed so we will be able to show the ceremony to all of our family and friends, but for the actual moment it is just us, my family. I have never been so happy in all of my life. I stepped out of the tent that was set up on the beach onto an off white runner that acted as an aisle. Ricky held my hand as we walked down the aisle. I was looking down at him making sure he was going to be ok, and couldn't help but think of how adorable he looked. He was wearing tan shorts and a white, silky, button-up, short-sleeved shirt. He was bare-foot to help keep him from falling in the sand. He must have noticed Carlos and Julie because his little face lit up into his 200-watt grin. It was then that I looked up and saw Carlos. He was dressed just like Ricky and he was absolutely gorgeous. Seeing him standing there on the beach, barefoot and looking like a God just solidified how incredibly lucky I am. Julie stood next to him in a beautiful sapphire blue dress that just confirmed how gorgeous she really is. I guess it is a good thing her father owns so many guns.

As I focused back in on Carlos I couldn't help but think back to all of our interactions over the years that led us here. Meeting him in the dinner, him coming to my rescue after I was handcuffed to my shower curtain, me destroying his cars and the almost-smiles he would give me when he confirmed that it was "Just a car, Babe", me helping to clear his name when he was accused of murder, him saving me from Con Stiva, Cone, and so many others, watching him get shot after he walked into my apartment to save Julie and me, realizing how terribly in-love I was with him and then finally, finally admitting it to each other here in Hawaii almost two years ago.

As Ricky and I reached Carlos and Julie, Julie took Ricky's hand for him to stand with her. The Justice of the Peace, who just so happens to be ex-military, stepped closer to Carlos and I so we could exchange our vows. We elected to recite our own vows, instead of going with traditional. Carlos and I are about the furthest thing from traditional. I started the vows.

"Carlos, you have had so many roles in my life. Mentor, rescuer, friend, best-friend, lover and now, my husband. It used to be when I thought about tying myself down to one person and becoming that person everyone expected me to be, I would find myself shaking and shivering. Now, when I think about spending my life without you in it, I get those same feelings. I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. You are my super-hero in so many ways, Batman. You have saved me so many times, including saving me from myself. You have helped me to fly and I love soaring above the clouds with you. I promise you that I will continue to love you unconditionally for the rest of my life. I will go to you when I need advice, a shoulder to cry on and when I need someone to keep me from Denial Land. You are my Henry Higgins, Carlos. You always have been. And now, thank God, you are my husband. I love you."

With tears streaming down my face I squeezed Carlos's hands. If I wasn't mistaken, his eyes looked a little misty, too. He took his turn next. "Babe, I have loved you since the moment you walked into that diner. You dug a place for yourself into my heart of stone and softened it from the inside out. You helped me to realize that it was ok to let people into my life and to love. You have saved me as much, if not more, than I've saved you. You saved me from myself, you saved my relationship with my daughter, you saved me from living my life alone. You have given me what I never thought I deserved, Babe: Your love and a family. I'm not a super-hero, Babe. But I love trying to be one for you. You help me to fly, too. I promise that I will love you forever and longer. I will reach out for you when I feel myself starting to close up. I will be there for you whenever you need me my dear Eliza. I love you more than I ever thought I could love someone and I am so happy that you will always be my Babe, and now, my wife."

We exchanged rings, and then were pronounced husband and wife. Carlos and I embraced each other and shared our first of what I'm sure will be many toe-curling kisses as man and wife. We turned and wrapped Ricky and Julie in our arms and headed off to the sunset.

_**Two years later…**_

Life has been so amazing. Carlos and I have been working so hard to get RangeMan where he always dreamed it would be and currently, we are pretty close. Tank, Lester, Bobby, Cal and Carlos divide duties well between the five of them so that no one is working an obscene amount of time. The staff levels are where they need to be and for the first time in a long time, Carlos seems relaxed.

They decided to sell off the Boston and Atlanta offices, since those still had outside partners involved, and now they only own Miami and Trenton. Carlos travels some, but not nearly as much as he had to when he had the other offices. They have a rotation down, so that they are only spending a week in Miami and then four weeks in Trenton. I always hate those weeks that he is gone, but we get through it by talking on the phone as much as possible. Sometimes Ricky and I go with him, but only when I don't have important client meetings scheduled. I'm still running a lot of the administrative stuff in the office and I still love it. I go out on surveillance occasionally and I'll work with a plan to round up a skip, especially if they have ties to the Burg, but I don't chase skips by myself ever and not even with a partner much any more.

Bobby and Lexie got married a couple months ago. Once he introduced her to his Mom and Dad, they instantly fell in love with her. Mr. Brown has changed in a lot of ways, especially around me. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with me covering him in my amniotic fluid, but whatever caused the change, I'm happy for it. I will sometimes join the four of them for lunch at Pino's. Mr. Brown has even taken to ordering half a meatball sub to go with his salad. I can't tell you how impressed I am with that.

Lester's girlfriend didn't last long, because she just couldn't handle the uncertainty of the hours. He does have a girl friend right now. Her name is Cristi and he met her when he was visiting a friend at the VA hospital. They hit it off right away and he seems more serious about her than anyone ever before. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the two of them.

Tank and Lula haven't gotten married yet, but they are very happy together. They live together and have been discussing adopting a child. I'm not sure what the hold up is on an actual wedding, but neither of them seems to be in a rush to move forward and none of their friends are pushing them. Tank's Momma would like to see them walk down the aisle, but she also assured Lula that as long as they are happy together, she won't rush them. She and Lula get along really well.

Celia, Carlos's sister, started seeing a doctor that works in the children's ward at St. Francis. They met briefly when she was there delivering Ricky and seemed to hit it off. They have been seriously dating for a couple years now, but I'm not sure if they are talking marriage. Celia is so happy, and that is all that matters.

Ricky goes to a private preschool and is thriving. He loves having the other kids to play with, and Carlos loves that it is so secure. My Mom and Dad pick him up after school three days a week, and take him home with them for the remainder of the afternoon. The rest of the time, he is usually upstairs "helping" Ella and Louis, or hanging at monitor duty with his uncles. He loves all of the guys at RangeMan, and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual. He just turned three a little over a month ago and Carlos and I shared our two year wedding anniversary. It has been so amazing.

Carlos is in Miami this week and he is going to be bringing Julie back with him. She is just starting her sophomore year of high school and wants to attend this college-prep high school in Princeton. Carlos and Rachel agreed that it would be good for her and she is going to be living with us. I'm so excited and so is Ricky. I have a surprise for Carlos when he returns home. We have another baby on the way. I'm pretty sure it is a product of our anniversary celebrations and I couldn't be happier. We had been trying for about six months with no success. I always find it so funny that when you aren't trying, like with Ricky, it just happens. And when you are, it seems to take a while. We decided we were going to stop putting pressure on ourselves and just let it happen if it was meant to and guess what, it happened.

I'm so excited. I feel so different than I did when I was pregnant with Ricky. I know it is way too early to tell, but I have this feeling, okay maybe it is just wishful thinking, but I think it might be a girl. I can't wait to tell Carlos. And celebrate! He's been gone almost a week and the pregnancy hormones are already killing me. I can't wait to work off some of these hormones with him. In the meantime, I'm headed to the Tasty Pastry to help alleviate some of the need. I can't wait until Carlos gets home! Donuts just don't have the same effect as they used to. I guess that is what happens to you when you marry a Cuban Sex God.

**The end…for now. **

_**Author's Note: Thank you so very much for all of your support. This was my first attempt at writing on here, and I can't believe the encouragement I've been given. I'm already working on another story (AU) that I hope to start posting soon. I'm also debating a sequel to this story. Here was my alternate ending. Let me know if you think I should do the sequel. Thanks again so much for your support. **_

_**Armed with a dozen Boston Creams, I headed to my car to head home. Ricky is spending the afternoon with my Mom and Dad and I could really go for a nap. As I walked toward my car, I noticed a note under the windshield wiper. I was driving my personal car, a gorgeous Porsche convertible. It is such a beautiful car, I don't even care that it is black. I grabbed the note and turned it over. My breath caught in my throat as I read it. "Boom!" Seconds later a loud explosion rocked the Tasty Pastry and I felt myself flying through the air. I think I hit garbage bags when I landed, because my landing didn't hurt and I smelled a combination of donuts and muffins. My last thought was, "My Baby" as my world faded to black.**_


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